
Class 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




D H. Chamberlain. 

(( IIAKI.KSTON. S. C, 1S75.) 



"public duty is my only master." 



GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

IN 

SOUTH CARO L I N A 



A CHAPTER OF RECONSTRUCTION IN THE 
SOUTHERN STATES 



/ 

WALTER ALLEN 



" My highest ambition as Governor has been to make the ascendancy of the Republican party in 
South Carolina compatible with the attainment and maintenance of as high and pure a tone in the 
administration of public affairs as can be exhibited in the proudest Democratic State of the South. 
And it was also my fondest hope, by peaceful agencies, here in South Carolina, alone of all the South- 
ern States, to have worked out, through the Republican party, the solution of the most difficult and 
one of the most interesting political and social problems which this century has presented." — D. H. 
Chamberlain, December 19, 1875. 

Quern si non tenuit, inagnis tanien cxcidit ausis 



NEW YORK AND LONDON 

P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
^\t l^nithcrbotlur |^ress 
1888 




COPYRIGHT BV 

WALTER ALLEN 

i88S 



Press of 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York 



?^ 



TO 
ALICE INGERSOLL CHAMBERLAIN 

WHOSE EARLY WEDDED LIFE WAS BOTH SHADOWED AND EXALTED BY THE EVENTS 

HEREIN SET FORTH ; WHOSE FAITHFUL INTEREST PRESERVED IMPORTANT 

PARTS OF THIS RECORD ; WHOSE WIFELY COUNSEL AND SYMPATHY 

MADE HER A LARGE SHARER IN ALL THAT WAS ACHIEVED AND 

ALL THAT WAS ENDURED BY HER HUSBAND WHILE 

GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA 



GRACE MASON WESTON ALLEN 

THE AFFECTIONATE SHARER OF MY HUMBLER CARES AND TASKS 



i xtudlcate this booU 



AS A TESTIMONY OF OBLIGATION AND ADMIRATION 

W. A. 



PREFACE. 



THIS volume is what its title expresses; it is the record of 
the Administration of Governor Chamberlain in South 
Carolina, and nothing more. It was undertaken because it was 
believed that the period covered by it, though brief, had a charac- 
ter and significance making it worthy of study and remembrance. 
What is called " Reconstruction " was certainly a peculiar phase 
of our American civil life. It presented new questions, new dif- 
ficulties, social, political, legal, and constitutional. The result of 
the overthrow and surrender of the armies of the South was to 
present at once the novel and perplexing question, how to deal 
with the civil Governments of the Southern States. The theories 
put forward at that time seem now, many of them, grotesque, — 
Mr. Sumner's theory of State suicide not the least so. 

The question of the legal relation of those States to the Union 
during and at the close of the war, has not yet passed beyond the 
line of discussion and controversy. The Supreme Court of the 
United States has announced the doctrine of " an indestructible 
Union, composed of indestructible States." ' Yet, the Recon- 
struction Acts of 1867 which proceeded on the theory of the de- 
struction of the State Governments of the rebellious States, have 
been carried into effect and recognized as valid by all branches of 
the Federal Government. 

It is not necessary to reconcile conflicting theories. What is 
plain is that Reconstruction as it proceeded under the Acts of 
Congress, involved the most serious consequences to all the peo- 
ple of the South. It involved directly a question never before 
put to the test, — the effect of granting the suffrage at one stroke 
to nearly 1,100,000 negroes, who were, in all senses of the word, 

' Texas v. White, 7 Wall. 700. 



VI FKEFA CE. 

slaves, a little more than two years before, — so distributed as to 
constitute an absolute majority of the whole voting population in 
four out of the eleven rebellious States. 

That this tremendous step, this irrevocable plunge, was taken 
without full apprehension of its necessary consequences, is now 
clear. The Acts were passed with a certain gay courage by the 
Republican party, and then, in effect, the South was told to make 
what it could out of the situation. This is not saying the way 
chosen was not right and wise, — that it was not, in fact, the only 
right and wise solution of the unprecedented practical problem 
consistent with the genius of our institutions. Great evils inci- 
dent to this plan of settlement have been experienced, but it is 
unreasonable to presume that another plan would have developed 
only blessings. So far as the promoters of the plan were actuated 
by a motive of securing the permanent ascendancy of the Repub- 
lican party, in the South and in the nation, by means of the solid 
negro vote, the scheme has failed. But that is unimportant. 
The important considerations are whether, under another plan, at 
the end of twenty years, the emancipated race would have made 
greater progress and would have better prospects ; whether the 
master race would be more favorable to the freedom and partici- 
pation in citizenship of their former slaves ; whether, on the 
whole, the Southern States would be nearer a realization of ideal 
republican Governments, wherein all citizens are contentedly sub- 
ject to impartial laws, and contentedly enjoy an equality of rights. 
He is a rash man who ventures to answer these questions with a 
positive yes. 

But whatever were the designs or motives of the authors of the 
Reconstruction measures, the work of carrying them out was of 
necessity committed to those who lived at the South. It is a 
mild statement to say that those on whom this responsibility fell 
were not generally well suited or qualified for such work. Sweep- 
ing denunciations are seldom just. Those who took part in Re- 
construction at the South were not all, or nearly all, " Northern 
adventurers. Southern renegades, and depraved negroes." ' 
Among all the classes so described were worthy and able men ; 
but the crude forces with which they dealt were temporarily too 

' See Protest against the new Constitution of S. C, pp. 6, 7. 



PREFACE. '^^ 

Strong for their control or resistance. Corruption ran riot ; dis- 
honesty flourished in shameless effrontery ; incompetency became 
the rule in public offices. 

In the progress of these conditions, efforts, well directed and 
patriotic were made to stem the tide of misrule. Of all such 
efforts tkat in South Carolina, of which Governor Chamberlan. 
was the leader, was unquestionably the most sagacious and hope- 
ful at the time, and it remains, and will remain always, the most 
interesting, on account of the peculiarly intense and dramatic in- 
■ cidents which characterized its course and end. 

The object of this volume is to gather together and preserve 
the substance and material of a history rather than to draw the 
lessons or to state the ultimate results,-a work which it would be 
unwise for any one to attempt now. The records are presented 
as they stand, documents are given without modification or 
reserve and the facts are left to speak for themselves, with only 
such incidental explanations and comments as seem to be neces- 
sary to a just understanding of the circumstances and conditions 
of each occasion. Numerous extracts from the newspapers of the 
day are given because they present the best mirror of the times 
and sho: how acts and events were regarded while they were 
occurring, thus preserving in a degree the atmosphere of public 
opinion breathed by the actors. If the result shall be, as it is 
believed it will be, to correct some grave misapprehensions, to re- 
call many forgotten facts, to bring into view circumstances that 
have not been generally known or understood, and thus to clear 
up and illumine the actual quality and service of some of the 
actors, such a result will certainly justify and reward the labor 

From the nature of the work that fell to his lot, the chief actor 
in this brief passage of history, not to say its hero, has been sub- 

> The author's general aim can hardly be more accurately expressed than by the fol- 
lowing extracts from the prefaces of two notable recent works. 

' My I m has been . • to furnish materials for an estimate, wUhout under- 

taking L estimate or interposing any comments beyond what seemed necessary for 
the better Understanding of 'the facts presented. "-Pref. to Cabot's "Memo, of R. 

^' ■^WeTve done little more than coordinate material ^^ --<;,I-f "J^ jj'^;;^"^ 
that judgment which we have no desire to forestall. "-Pref. to Life of Wm. Lloyd 
Garrison," by his sons. 



vni 



PREFACE. 



jected, ,n some quarters, to much dispraise, blame, and even 
obloquy. It cannot be doubted that he is a man of s;ch qulhy 

tn,;;: o7hC° "^' ,'" ^'■•'■"^ '° '""°'-^"^ remembrance on the 
rut of h,story._thc whole truth. It will not be disputed that 
for the penod covered by this record he presents an fnteres ine 
figure ; nor w,ll it be denied that he exhibited some high c W 2 
tues and capaot.es. and did for South Carolina mor! than was 

one man. That he brought to his task great force of character , 
3 rong p„p,3e, admirable courage, high culture, a^dtpowe^;; 
eloquence, ,s generally conceded. What he was what he did a 
we 1 as the character of the events with which h was connected 

Tn ;e°fr"' '"' "'"'" '™"' ^ P""-' °f "- record evealed' 
n tne fol owuig pages, m which no act or utterance that seemed 
o have n^portance regarding his aim and work has been wH 

.fully suppressed. By such completeness could best be fulfilled 

JhJXToffic f'r^"' ■'" 'r'- ^^'^••" ^-""' conceived t 'be 
mam office of h.story : To prevent virtuous acts from bein:. 

::;rt::r;::t::r"^ ^" ""^ "^" ^-^ - '-"— 

The whole is submitted with the confidence-such confidence 
-th t'roX d.^ in publishing the Letters of Cromwel 
that the only cond.fon md.spensable to a just appreciation of 
oe who bravely and honorably performed a hard duty that 

S- seUo^r" '' "'' '■ -' '-^ ''^ '■'' ''• ^''^" ^" '"% and 



28 York Square, New Haven, 
February 22, 1888. 



VV. A. 





TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Settlement of South Carolina and the Character of its Settlers — Influence 
of Slavery ; The Episode of Nullification — After the War of Rebellion ; 
Reconstruction Policies — The Election of 1874 ...... i 

CHAPTER II. 
Governor Chamberlain's Inaugural Address — An Exhibition of the Condition 

of South Carolina Affairs — Specific Radical Reforms Proposed . . . ro 



y 



CHAPTER III. 
Reception of the Inaugural Address — The Effect upon Public Opinion, North 
and South, and upon the People of South Carolina — Comments of the Char- 
leston Nezvs and Coitrier, Harper s Weekly, The Nation, and Other 
Journals ............. 31 

CHAPTER IV. / 

The Governor and the Legislature — The First Conflict — He Defeats the.Elec-Xy 
tion of an Unfit Judge by the Legislature — Reluctant Approval of an 
Appropriation Bill — Message to the Legislature on the Subject — An Inter- 
esting Letter of Professor C. P. Pelham ....... 38 

CHAPTER V. 
Governor Chamberlain's Message to the Legislature Supplementary to His 
Inaugural Address — Full Review^ of the Condition of the Departments of 
Administration — Explicit Recommendation of Radical Reform Measures — 
Public Duty before Party — Approving Comments of the South Carolina 
Press .............. 46 



CHAPTER VI. 
Message Regarding the Appointment of Trial Justices — Trouble in Edgefield 
County Settled by Disbanding the Colored Militia — Letter to the Chairman 
of the Senate Committee on Finance Presenting a Scheme for Retrenchment 
in Appropriations — Veto of an Act Validating Certain Payments by the 
Treasurer of Edgefield County — The Union Herald and the News and 
Courier — A Significant Article 65 



X TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

The Attempt to Remove from Office Hon. F. L. Cardozo, the State Treasurer — 
Governor Chamberlain Condemns the Project, and Defends the Course 
of the Treasurer — Comments of the Press ....... 80 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Closing Days of the Session — The Legislature Persists in Evil Courses — An 
Accumulation of Vicious Measures — A Series of Resolute and Effectual 
Veto Messages ............ 88 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Situation at the Close of the First Session of the Legislature — Nineteen 
Effectual Vetoes by the Governor — Remarkable Revolution in Opinion 
Wrought by the Governor's Course — The Charleston News and Courier 
Acknowledges that Its Former Judgment of the Governor's Character was 
Mistaken — The Voice of the Press of South Carolina and Other States — 
Letters of Professor Richard T. Greener and Hon. Amasa Walker . . 104 

CHAPTER X. 

Social, Literary, and Patriotic Festivals — Letters to the New England Society 
of Charleston — Letter to Richard Briggs, of Boston, Commending a Patri- 
otic Service — Address at the Centennial Celebration of the Battle of 
Lexington — Letter to the German Fusiliers of Charleston — Comment of 
the News and Courier — Letter Declining an Invitation to Deliver an 
Address before the Literary Societies of Erskine College — Address at the 
Celebration of the Centennial of the Mecklenburg (N. C.) Declaration of 
Independence — Presentation of Colors to the Washington Light Infantry — 
Oration before the Law School of Yale College — Appointment of Com- 
missioners to Further the Representation of South Carolina in the Centen- 
nial Exhibition at Philadelphia — Address before the Barnwell County 
Agricultural Society — Oration at Greenville (S. C.) on the Occasion of 
the Award of the Whitsitt I'rizes . . . . . . . -US 

CHAPTER XL 

Politics and Administration during the Recess of the Legislature — Reply to a 
Memorial from Citizens of Barnwell County — Course of the New York Sun 
— Indignant Protest of South Carolina Journals — Failure of the South Carolina 
Bank and Trust Company — Prosecution of Niles G. Parker, a Former State 
Treasurer — His Attempt to Involve the Governor in his Wrong-Doing — Re- 
port of a Conversation with the Governor — Comments of the Press of the State 
— The Governor Visits Charleston — Address upon State Affairs ; His Policy 
and Aims Distinctly Avowed — Complimentary Reception by the Chamber of 
Commerce — Newspaper Comments Elicited by the Charleston Speech-- 
Proclamation of a Thanksgiving Day ........ 140 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Meeting of the Legislature in its Second Session — Governor Chamberlain's 
Second Annual Message — Veto of .the Tax and Supply Bill Passed at the 
Former Session — The Veto Unanimously Sustained — Comments on the 
Message and the Veto by the State Press ....... iCi 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Election of Eight Judges by the Legislature — W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, 
jr., Chosen for the Charleston and the Sumter Circuits, Respectively — The 
Election Held during a Temporary Absence of the Governor — He Char- 
acterizes the Election of Whipper and Moses as "a Horrible Disaster" — 
He Refuses to Sign Their Commissions — Alarm and Indignation of Intelli- 
gent Citizens and Property-Owners — Their Hearty Approval of the Gover- 
nor's Action — Comment of the News and Courier — Despatch of the 
Charleston Bankers and Merchants — An Immense Meeting in Charleston 
Condemns the Action of the Legislature, and Upholds the Governor — 
Similar Meetings throughout the State — Address of the Bar of Charleston 
and Orangeburg to Judge Reed — His Response — The Governor Issues 
New Comjnissions to Judges Reed and Shaw — Threats that Whipper and 
Moses will Secure Their Seats on the Bench by Violence — Proclamation of 
Warning by the Governor . . . . . . . . . .192 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Influence of the Election of Whipper and Moses on the Politics of South 
Carolina — Revival and Reorganization of the Democratic Party — Views of 
Governor Chamberlain and Dr. H. V. Redfield — The Political Situation in 
the State and the Country — Letter of Governor Chamberlain to President 
Grant Setting Forth the Nature of the Crisis — Letter of Governor Cham- 
berlain to Senator Oliver P. Morton on the Partisan Aspects of the Issue 
Made — Senator Morton Protests that He had been Misunderstood — Letter 
of Governor Chamberlain to Dr. H. B. Blackwell — Comments of News- 
papers in Other States on the Situation in South Carolina — Hon. A. H. 
Stephens Corrects a Misrepresentation of His Opinion Concerning Affairs 
in South Carolina . .......... 220 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Work of Reforming Legislation and Administration Vigorously Prosecu- 
ted — I^etter of the Governor to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
Urging the Necessity of Economy in Appropriations — Address of the 
Governor to the Committee of Ways and Means, Setting Forth Specifi- 
cally the Items of Retrenchment Practicable, Making in the Aggregate a 
Reduction of Nearly $270,000 from the Appropriations of the Previous 
Year — His Suggestions All Adopted — A Great Week's Work — Removal 
from Office of Thomas S. Cavender, under .Suspicion of Corruption — The 
Governor's Course with Reference to Pardons ; Examples of His Practice — 
Presumptuous Exercise of Executive Authority by the Lieutenant Governor . 244 



\' 



^l 



sj 



XI 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CIIAI'TER XVI. 

PAGE 

The State Convention for Choosing Delegates to the National Republican Con- 
vention — Governor Chamberlain a Candidate for Delegate — The Opponents 
of His Policy Resolved to Defeat Him — Extraordinary Efforts and Com- 
binations to That End — Apparent Success of the Scheme — Only a Minor- 
ity of Delegates Favorable to Him — Turbulent and Bitter Contests in 
the Convention — The Governor and His Friends Defeated Again and 
Again — The Governor Assailed and Denounced in a Violent Speech by 
Judge R. B. Carpenter — His Eloquent Reply Produces a Revolution of 
Sentiment, and He is Chosen a Delegate at Large by a Great Majority — 
Descriptions of This Oratorical Combat by Eye-Witnesses — Abstracts of the 
Speeches — Further Proceedings — The Governor's Action at Cincinnati . 25 S 

CHAPTER XVn. 

Development of Diverse Opinions in the Democratic Party — Meeting and Ad- 
dress of the State Executive Committee of the Democratic Party in January, 
1876 — In May \!ci^ News and C(?//nVr Defines the Position of the " Coop- 
erationists " with Respect to Governor Chamberlain, and Declares that 
the Republican Majority, Led by Him, can be Overcome " in Only One 
Way, by Armed Force " — In June the Same Paper Sets Forth the Plan of 

L Campaign of the " Cooperationists " — Vigorous and Bitter Opposition of the 
''Straight-Outs" ............ 272 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Record of Governor Chamberlain — A Series of Editorial Articles from 

the Charleston News and Courier, July 5-18, 1876 ..... 279 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Hamburg Massacre — Previous Disturbed Condition of Edgefield County — 
The Governor's Efforts to Secure Peace and Order — Proclamation of June 
3, 1876 — Comment of the News and Cotirier — Letter of the Governor to 
Judge R. B. Carpenter — The Massacre at Hamburg, July 8, 1876 — Prompt 
Action of the Governor — Report of an Investigation by Attorney-General 
Stone — Letter of the Governor to United Stales Senator Robertson — Com- 
ments by the Nation — Letter of the Governor to the President — Comment of 
the New York Herald — Comment of the News and Courier — Statement of 
General M. C. Butler — Finding of the Coroner's Inquest — Complicity of 
Prominent Citizens Alleged — Postponement of Legal Proceedings against 
Them — Statement of Attorney-General Stone — No One Ever Punished for 
the Crime ............. 307 

CHAPTER XX. 

Call for an Early State Convention of the Democratic Party Issued in the Interest 
of the " Straight-Outs " — Ineffectual Efforts of the " Cooperationists " to Se- 
cure a Postponement until after the Republican Convention — "Watch and 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Wait " Their Watchword — Judge Maher and Hon. George W. Williams De- 
cline to be Candidates for the Democratic Nomination, and Advise that No 
Nomination be Made in Opposition to Governor Chamberlain — Letter of Hon. 
B. O. Duncan — County Conventions Opposed to Making a Nomination — 
Meeting of the State Convention — Questions of Policy Debated in Secret 
Sessions — Triumph of the " Straight-Outs " — General Wade Hampton Nomi- 
nated — The Charleston Nerus and Courier Supports the Policy Its Judgment 
had Condemned ............ 331 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Some Important Happenings during the Summer of 1876 — The Strikes in Col- 
leton and Beaufort — The Governor's Prompt and Effectual Action — Centen- 
nial of the Defence of Fort Moultrie — Speeches by the Governor — Cordiality 
of His Reception — Governor Chamberlain Opens the Campaign for the 
Republican Party by a Speech at Beaufort — He Announces that He will be — 
a Candidate for Renomination by the Republican Convention — He Goes 
through the State Addressing Republican Meetings — Hostile Demonstrations 
by Organized Armed Bodies of Democrats — The Republican State Convention 
Called — Dr. Redfield Explains the Meaning of the Military Demonstrations 
of Democrats — The Governor Announces the Principles That will Govern 
Him in Appointing Commissioners of Election — Political Riot in Char- 
leston — Republicans at Fault — Condemned by the Governor . . . 340 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Republican State Convention — A Three Days' Session — The Party Commit- 
ted to an Approval of Governor Chamberlain's rolicy of Reform, and 
Pledged to its Completion — Failure of the Opposition to the Governor — He 
is Nominated for a Second Term — His Speech Accepting the Nomination — 
The State Ticket Completed — Elements of Weakness — Governor Chamber- 
lain's Answer to a Call upon Him by the News and Courier to Withdraw 
from the Republican Party and Support the Ticket Headed by Wade Hamp- 
ton — Comments of the New York Times on the Work of the Republican 
Convention . . . . . . . . . . , . -352 

CHAPTER XXIII. y- 

Opening of the Campaign — The EUenton Riot and Massacre — Correspondence 
between A. C. Haskell, Esq., Chairman of the Democratic State Central 
Committee, and Governor Chamberlain — Slanderous Charges Refuted — 
The Governor States the Issue Made by His Nomination — The " Con- \/^ 
servative" Policy and the "Straight-out" Policy — Falsity of the Pretence 
that All Democratic Agencies are " Peaceful, Orderly, and within the Law " 
— Examples of Prevalent Lawlessness — The Meeting at Edgefield — Meet- 
ings at Newberry, Abbeville, Midway, and Lancaster — Bitter Proscription 
of Republicans Undertaken — Armed Rifle Clubs and Their Purpose — Sig- 
nificance of the Hamburg Massacre — The Ellenton Riot Described — Why 

1 



4 



xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

the Governor did Not Call on the White Citizens to Suppress the Disturb- 
ances — Comments of Harper s Weekly on the Governor's Letter — Proclama- 
tion Commanding the Unlawful Military Organizations to Disband and 
Disperse — The Governor Contradicted by the Democratic State Central 
Committee — His Emphatic Rejoinder — Confirmation by United States 
District-Attorney D. T. Corbin — Why General Hampton did Not Meet 
Ciovernor Chamberlain in Joint Debate ....... 3^5 

CHAl'TER XXIV. 
Record of the Campaign Continued — Graphic Letter of a South Carolina Dem- 
ocrat to the New York Tribune — An Open Letter Addressed to Governor 
Chamberlain by William Lloyd Garrison — The Governor Applies to the 
President for Aid to Suppress the Continuing Public Disorder — Proclamation 
of President Grant — Instructions of the Secretary of War — The Governor's 
Statement, in a Telegraphic I>etter to the New York Tribune, of the Cir- 
cumstances Which Made His Call for Aid Necessary — Official Reports of 
Officers of the Army — Harpers Weekly on Shotgun- Reform — Letter of 
Hon. B. Odell Duncan to Governor Chamberlain — Charleston Democrats 
Apply for Protection of the United States Forces — Governor Chamberlain's 
Letter in Response to the Application — The Governor's Telegraphic Letter 
to the New York Tribune Exposing the Errors of Statements by United 
States Senator T. F. Randolph of New Jersey — Hon. Carl Schurz Com- 
ments on the Situation in South Carolina — Proclamation by Governor 
Chamberlain Regarding the Election ........ 398 

CHAPTER XXV. 

SjThc Election on November 7th Accomplished without Bloodshed — Excitement 
Regarding the Result — Democrats Apply to the Supreme Court of the State 
for an Injunction Preventing the Board of State Canvassers from Perform- 
ing the Duty EnjoiiTedliy Law — Protracted and Strange Proceedings of the 
Court — The Board Does Its Work and Adjourns Sine Die heiovQ an Injunc- 
tion is Served — Anger of the Democrats — The Elections in Edgefield and 
Lauraj*. Counties Invalidated liy Frauds — Orders of the President and the 
Secretary of War to General Ruger — Meeting of the Legislature — Both 
Branches Organized by the Republicans — The Democrats W^ithdraw from 
the House of Representatives — Interview with the Governor — His Despatch 
to the President — Democrats Force an Entrance into the Legislative Cham- 
ber — General Ruger's Action Criticised — His Report to General Sherman — 
Governor Chamberlain's Telegraphic Letter to the New York Tribune 
Specifically Contradicting Misstatements by General J. B. Gordon and 
Others — The Vote for Governor Canvassed — Governor Chamberlain's Ma- 
jority 3,145 428 



Y 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
Governor Chamberlain's Second Inaugural Address — Comments on the Address 
and on the Governor's Work by the Rochester (N. Y.) Democrat — General 
Hampton Contradicts One of the Governor's Statements — The Governor's 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV 

PACK 

Response — Governor Chamberlain Again Exposes Misrepresentations by Gen- 
eral Gordon — The Pretended Legislature Declares Wade Hamgiim— le-fec^ 
Elected Governor — Curt Correspondence between General Hampton and the 
Governor — Hon. D. T. Corbin Chosen United States Senator by the Legis- 
lature — The Pretended Legislature Chooses General M. C. Butler of Edge- 
field to be United States Senator — Congressional Committees in Columbia — 
The Governor States His Position with Reference to a Compromise — A 
Statement by the Governor of the Legal and Parliamentary Conditions — 
Why the Votes of Edgefield and Laurens Counties were Not Counted — A 
Summary of the Advantages to South Carolina of the Past Rule of the Re- 
publican Party — Governor Chamberlain's Bearing in the Crisis — Personal 
Traits Exemplified ........... 445 

CHAPTER XXVn. 

The Trying Condition Prolonged for Two More Months — Governor Hayes Be- 
comes President — Surprising Communication Despatched to Governor 
Chamberlain on the Day of the Inauguration — Governor Chamberlain's 
Reply — His Despatch to Hon. D. T. Corbin — Mr. Evarts Explains — 
Previous Action of Senator Matthews in the Character of Conciliator — 
Governor Chamberlain and General Hampton Invited to Washington by 
the President — Governor Chamberlain's Statement of the Case to the 
President — The Administration Determines to Withdraw the United States 
Troops from Columbia — Governor Chamberlain Declares It Useless to 
Make Further Contest — Governor Chamberlain's Address to South Carolina 
Republicans on Abdicating His Office — iVccompanyjng Documents — 
Transfer of the Executive Office to General Hampton — Conclusion , . 468 

APPENDIX. 

I. Personal .Statements of Governor Chamberlain Concerning Reports and 

Changes Affecting His Personal Honor and Integrity in Public Life . 491 

II. Indictment of Governor Chamberlain in South Carolina .... 502 

III. Letters of Governor Chamberlain to William Lloyd Garrison and to Hon. 

B. O. Duncan ............ 504 

IV. The Southern Policy of President Hayes Discussed by Governor Chamber- 

berlain in an Address at Woodstock, Conn., July 4, 1877 . . . 507 

V, Editorial Article from the Charleston News and Courier, May 6, 1876, on 
Governor Chamberlain's Address at Greenville, S. C, on Classical 
Studies ............. 521 

VI. Biographical Sketch 524 

Index 527 



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GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S ADMINISTRA^ 
TION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 



CHAPTER I. 

(introductory.) 

The Settlement of South CaroHna and the Character of its vSettlers — Influence of 
Slavery ; The Episode of Nullification — After the War of Rebellion ; Recon- 
struction Policies — The Election of 1874. 



I. 

NO one of the colonies which became the original thirteen 
States had a more distinctive colonial char^icter, or has had 
a more unique history in the Union, than South Carolina. This 
has resulted, in part, from the qualities and experiences of her 
early settlers, her locality, soil, climate, and physical environments, 
but, more than all, from the presence, from an early date in her 
history, of the institution and practices of slavery. Controversy 
over the moral character and political status of slavery has ceased. 
The argument on that point was closed with the defeat and 
extinction of the institution itself; but the fact remains, and will 
rernain, that slavery was the one factor in the society of South 
Carolina — her social, ecclesiastical, moral, economic, and political 
forces — which most determined the character of her people and 
the course of her history, and accounts for all, or nearly all, her 
peculiarities. 

Her early settlers were drawn from many sources : first, the 
English at Port Royal, afterwards transferred to the west bank of 
the Ashley River, and later to Oyster Point, where in 1680 the 
foundations of the present city of Charleston were laid ; then other 
emigrants, from Europe, " a medley of different nations and prin- 

I 



2 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ciplcs," ' — the Roundheads and Cavaliers of the Revolution of 
1688, the Dutch from Nova-Belgia in 1674, and a colony of emi- 
grants from the Barbadoes in 167 1, bringing with them the first 
slaves ever held in South Carolina. Of this period of early settle- 
ment the historian of South Carolina says : 

" The inducements to emigration were so many and so various that every year 
brought new adventurers to the province. The friends of the proprietors were alhired 
to it by the prospect of obtaining landed estates on easy terms ; while others took 
refuge in it from the frowns of fortune and the rigor of creditors. Young men re- 
duced to misery by folly and excess embarked for the new settlement, where they had 
leisure to reform and where necessity taught them the unknown virtues of prudence 
and temperance. Restless spirits fond of revolution were gratified by emigration and 
found in a new country abundant scope for enterprise and adventures." ^ 

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was the occa- 
sion of the influx of a large number of French Protestants, who 
brought, along with some of the stern virtues and religious strict- 
ness of the Engli-sh Protestants, skill and industry in the arts, and 
a good degree of social culture and refinement — qualities and at- 
tainments which made them most useful settlers in the new State, 
leaders in all public affairs, and the progenitors of a brave, high- 
minded, and aristocratic portion of the population, thus realizing 
in an unexpected way the great project of the Admiral Coligny 
in 1562, of founding an asylum in America for the peaceful 
growth of French Protestantism. 

In these years came also a colony of Massachusetts Congre- 
gationalists from Dorchester near Boston (1696), and over fifteen 
hundred of those subjects of poetry and pathos, the French 
Acadians of Nova Scotia. Scotland and the North of Ireland 
contributed freely to the best elements of the new colony, and 
furnished by emigrants and their immediate descendants a large 
majority of its preachers, physicians, lawyers, and schoolmasters, 
a special influence plainly traceable in all the after history. 

On the whole, perhaps no colony in this country can be said to 
have been better settled. To such men and women dangers were 
tonic, privations were purifying. By a normal development the 
general standard of personal character and public conduct became 
high, self-respecting, and strong. 

' Ramsay's " History of South CaroHna, " vol. i., p. 2. 
'^ Ramsay, vol. i., pp. 3, 4. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 3 

Such qualities arising from such causes have characterized each 
of the leading periods of the history of the State, the period 
of the Proprietary Government from 1670 to 1719, the time of 
Lords Proprietors, Palatines, and Landgraves, culminating in the 
contest between the settlers and the proprietors, and followed by 
the period of Royal government from 17 19 to 1774, as well as that 
of early settlement and struggles. 

Three periods of war marked this earlier history, and gave the 
military character to the people which has never since been lost, 
— the period of the Spanish wars, that of the Indian wars, and that 
of the wars against the pirates. 

The treaty of Paris between England and France in 1763 found 
South Carolina entering on a brilliant period of internal peace, 
development, and prosperity. The fourth period of her history, 
which may be called the Revolutionary period, extending from 
1774 to 1783, is full of interest and illustrative of the special char- 
acter of her people. South Carolina had no grievances peculiarly 
her own to incite her to the War of Independence. Her historian ' 
says : " The first and second Geoi^ges were nursing fathers to the 
province; they performed to it the full duty of kings." Mr. Ban- 
croft signally exalts her service : 

"Be it remembered that the blessing of Union is due to the warmheartedness 
of South Carolina. ' She was all alive and felt at every pore. ' And when we count 
up. those who, above others, contributed to the great result, we are to name the in- 
spired ' madman ' James Otis, and the great statesman, the magnanimous, un- 
wavering, faultless lover of his country, Christopher Gadsden." ^ 

By the first formal census of South Carolina in 1790, — 120 
years after the first settlement at Port Royal, — the population 
of the State was 249,073, of whom the whites were 140,178 and 
the colored, 108,895 ; and by the census of 1800, the whole 
population was 345,591, whites 196,255, colored 149,336. 

11. 

Slavery is a powerful ingredient in any community ; it was in 
ancient times; it always must be, from the nature of the relations 
it involves. Almost absolute dominion over the person, even the 
life, of another, — absolute dominion, so far as legal right goes, over 

' Ramsay. 

■^ Hist, of U. S. [Ed. 1854], vol. v., pp. 294-5. 



4 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

his will and actions, — cannot fail, in any age or among any people, 
to deeply affect the character of individuals and society. The 
effects are not wholly injurious, if judged by ordinary human 
standards. Slavery promotes in the master class the spirit of 
command, pride of blood, of race, of character. Personal courage 
and daring, patriotism, generosity, hospitality — the great patrician 
qualities — seem to a large extent to accompany and grow out of 
slavery. Certainly these and cognate qualities have marked the 
people of South Carolina in all periods. The brutalizing influ- 
ences of slavery need less notice because, ordinarily, they are the 
only ones observed by those who look on from the outside ; but 
probably these influences were never more sadly exhibited than 
among the people of South Carolina. 

Two great facts, or events, distinguish the history of South 
Carolina and illustrate the tendency of her people subsequent to 
the Revolution and the formation of the Union — the Nullification 
episode of 1835, and the Rebellion of 1861, — and each of these 
events throws light upon the portion of her annals of which this 
volume is to treat. Of each slavery was the inspiring cause. 
From 1783 to 1835, slavery had strengthened its hold in South 
Carolina and the South. From being deplored as a misfortune, 
or excused as a fact or a necessity, it had come to be defended in 
church and state as a relation sanctioned by the bible, advan- 
tageous on all grounds to the master race, and largely a blessing 
even to the slave race. It is not necessary to suppose that Cal- 
houn and his followers were consciously aiming at all times to 
strengthen slavery ; we may even assume they were working in 
the belief that true political wisdom, their civil and political free- 
dom, required the construction which they sought to put on the 
Constitution. None the less is it true and apparent that slavery 
was the only fact or influence alienating them from the old union 
of spirit that carried them shoulder to shoulder with the North, 
through the Revolution. If economic reasons moved them, it 
was in the habits and conditions which slavery created, that such 
reasons arose and were fostered. Slavery construed the Constitu- 
tion and measured the Union for them, as it determined all 
things, whether they were conscious or unconscious of its con- 
trolling agency. It is vehemently denied by Southern writers 



ADMINISTRA TION. 5 

and apologists that slavery was such a motive. Nullification and 
secession, it is averred, were simply political tenets or principles. 
But if this be true, those principles and tenets were first taught 
or suggested by the influence and interests of slavery. What 
gave heat and force to the great debate of Webster and Hayne 
in the Senate, was the different social conditions which the orators 
represented. But for this, that debate would have been academi- 
cal and abstract. And the force which set the squadrons in the 
field in 1861, was the fear and rage inspired by the election of a 
President, and the triumph of a party, pledged to restrict slavery 
within the limits then bounding its possible progress. 

The part of South Carolina in fomenting, precipitating, and 
waging the war intended to divide the Union is matter of com- 
mon knowledge. The State suffered in large measure the losses 
and woes which war always imposes ; and in the failure of the 
attempt which her leading spirits had so actively incited, attended 
as it -was by the annihilation of all property in slaves and the sys- 
tem of slavery, thus violently revolutionizing the organic struc- 
ture of their social and industrial as well as their political state, 
they and their sympathizers had an extraordinary share of the 
humiliation of defeat. 

In 1850 the population of the State had risen to 668,507, the 
whites numbering 274,563 ; free colored, 8,960 ; slaves, 384,984. 

III. 

After the close of the war, two distinct and opposing plans 
were applied for the reconstruction, or restoration to the Union, 
of the State.' The first, known as the Presidential plan, was 
quickly superseded by the second, known as the Congressional 
plan; but it had worked vast mischief by fostering delusive hopes, 
the reaction of which was manifest in long enduring bitterness. 
Under the latter plan, embodied in the Act of Congress of March 
2, 1867, a convention was assembled in Charleston, January 14, 
1868, "to frame a Constitution and Civil Government." The pre- 
vious registration of voters made in October, 1867, showed a total 
of 125,328, of whom 46,346 were whites, and 78,982 blacks. 

The feelings of the whites were probably correctly expressed 
at this time by the Address of the Conservative (Democratic) 



6 GOVERiXOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

party issued at Columbia, November 6, 1867. It contains these 
words : 

" Wo have shown that free labor, under the sudden emancipation policy of the 
government, is a disaster from which, under the most favorable circumstances, it will 
require years to recover. Add to this the policy which the Reconstruction Acts pro- 
pose to enforce, and you place the South, politically and socially, under the heel of 
the negro ; these influences combined would drag to hopeless ruin the most prosperous 
community in the world. What do these Reconstruction Acts propose ? Not negro 
equality, merely, but negro supremacy. In the name, then, of humanity to both 
races, in the name of citizenship under the Constitution, in the name of our Anglo- 
Saxon blood and race, in the name of the civilization of the nineteenth century, in 
the name of magnanimity and the instincts of manhood, in the name of God and 
Nature, we protest against these Acts as destructive to the peace of society and the 
prosperity of the country, and the greatness and grandeur of our common future. 
The people of the South are powerless to avert the impending ruin. We have been 
overljorne ; and the responsibility to posterity and to the world has passed into other 
hands." 

On the question of holding a constitutional convention the 
vote cast in November, 1867, was 71,087 ; 130 whites and 68,876 
blacks voting for it, and 2,801 whites against it. Of the delegates 
chosen to the convention thirtj'-four were whites and sixty-three 
blacks. 

The new Constitution was adopted at an election held on the 
14th, 15th, and 16th of April, 1868, all State of^cers to initiate its 
operation being elected at the same time. At this election the 
registration was 133,597; the vote for the Constitution 70,758; 
against it, 27,288 ; total vote, 98,046; not voting, 35,551. 

Against the approval by Congress of this Constitution the 
Democratic State Central Committee forwarded a protest which 
concluded thus : 

" We have thus suggested to your honorable body some of the prominent objec- 
tions to your adoption of this Constitution. We w-aive all argument on the subject of 
its validity. It is a Constitution de facto, and that is the ground on which we approach 
your honorable body in the spirit of earnest remonstrance. The Constitution was the 
work of Northern adventurers, Southern renegades, and ignorant negroes. Not one 
per cent, of the white population of the State approves it, and not two per cent, of 
the negroes who voted for its adoption understood what this act of voting implied. 
That Constitution enfranchises every male negro over the age of twenty-one, and 
disfranchises many of the purest and best white men of the State. The negro being 
in a large numerical majority as compared with the whites, the effect is that the new 
Constitution estabHshes in this State negro supremacy with all its train of countless 
evils. A superior race — a portion. Senators and Representatives, of the same proifl^ 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 7 

race to which it is your pride to belong — is put under the rule of an inferior race ; the 
abject slaves of yesterday, the flushed freedmen of to-day. And think you there can 
be any just, lasting reconstruction on this basis? The Committee respectfully reply, 
ill behalf of their white fellow-citizens, that this cannot be. We do not mean to 
liireaten resistance by arms, but the people of our State will never quietly submit to 
negro rule. We may have to pass under the yoke you have authorized, but by moral 
agencies, by political organization, by every peaceful means left us, we will keep up 
this contest until we have regained the political control handed down to us by an 
honored ancestry. This is a duty we owe to the land that is ours, to the graves that 
it contains, and to the race of which you and we are alike members — the proud Cau- 
casian race, whose sovereignty on earth God has ordained, and they themselves have 
illustrated on the most brilliant pages of the world's history." 

The new State officers took office July 9, 1868. In the first 
Legislature, which assembled on the same day, the Senate con- 
sisted of thirty-three members, of whom nine were negroes, and 
but seven were Democrats. The House of Representatives con- 
sisted of one hundred and twenty-four members, of whom forty- 
eight were white men, fourteen only of these being Democrats. 
The whole Legislature thus consisted of seventy-two white and 
eighty-five colored members. 

At this date the entire funded debt of South Carolina amounted 
to $5,407,306.27. At the close of the four years (two terms) of 
Governor R. K. Scott's administration, December, 1872, the funded 
debt of the State amounted to $18,515,033.91, including past-due 
and unpaid interest for three years. During the period of this 
administration, no public works of any appreciable importance 
had been begun or completed. The entire increase of about thir- 
teen million dollars may be said to represent only increased, ex- 
travagant, and profligate current expenditures. 

In December, 1873, during the administration of Governor F. 
J. Moses, Jr., an Act was passed by the Legislature entitled " An 
Act to reduce the volume of the public debt and to provide for 
the payment of the same." ' This Act recognized as valid, of 
principal and accrued interest of the public bonded debt, $i 1,480,- 
033.91, and declared invalid and not a debt of the State, $5,965,- 
000 of bonds known as " conversion " bonds. It provided for re- 
funding the valid debt, so called, in new bonds of the State at fifty 
per centum of the par value of the bonds and coupons. 

The financial and other history of the State from this time 
' Statutes of S. C, vol. xv., ]). 520. 



8 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

until the inauguration of Governor Chamberlain in December, 
1874, is revealed incidentally, but with all essential completeness; 
in the subsequent chapters. 

IV. 

The political campaign of 1874 in South Carolina was a distinct 
and determined effort on the part of a majority of the Republi- 
can party of the State to secure reforms in administration, and 
especially a reduction of public expenditures. Daniel H. Cham- 
berlain/ who had held the office of Attorney General of the State 
during Governor Scott's administration, from 1868 to 1872, but had 
held no ofifice for two years, was nominated for Governor by the 
Republican party. So loud was the demand for reform, that a 
respectable portion of the Republican party refused to support 
Mr. Chamberlain, on the alleged ground of want of confidence in 
his zeal and firmness as a reformer. This opposition took form in 
the nomination of John T. Green, of Sumter, a native South Car- 
olinian, then a judge of tlie Circuit Court of the State. Judge 
Green was supported by the Democratic party, which made no 
separate nomination for Governor. 

The platform originally adopted by the Republican party was 
accepted by the bolters as the exposition of their principles and 
aims, and the Democrats made no distinctive declaration of pol- 
icy. Its provisions were as follows : 

1. It re-affirms adhesion to the principles of the National Republican Convention 
at Philadelphia in 1872, as embodying the true ideas of American progress. 

2. It maintains the authority of the general government to interfere for the pro- 
tection of domestic tranquillity in the several States, and acknowledges with gratitude 
the interposition in this State. 

3. It deprecates lawlessness in any form ; deplores violence, intimidation, or ob- 
struction of personal or political rights by any party ; demands a universal respect 
and consideration for the elective franchise in the hands of the weakest, and declares 
that it shall hold men the enemies of equal rights who interfere with or deny a free 
and lawful exercise of the ballot to any citizen, of whatever party creed. 

4. It pledges the party to continue scrupulously to enact and enforce the financial 
reforms promised two years ago, and in large measure fulfilled ; in proof of which it 
points to the following laws, viz.: The law to levy a specific tax ; the law to reduce 
the volume of the public debt ; the law to regulate public printing ; the law to regu- 
late the disbursement of public funds ; and the law to reduce assessments. 

' A sketch of Governor Chamberlain's jirevious life is given in the Appendix. 



• ADiMINISTRA TION. g 

5. It pledges the party to reduce the public expenditures within the public revenue, 
and to secure the enactment of a law requiring officers who disburse moneys to give 
to the public monthly statements of all receipts and expenditures derivable from a 
moderate assessment and tax rate. 

6. It earnestly entreats Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill, which is absolutely 
essential to the enforcement of the constitutional guaranty of equal rights for all 
American citizens. 

7. It pledges the party to maintain the settlement of the public debt as made last 
winter, and to reject all claims against which there is a suspicion. 

S. It holds that all franchises granted by the State should be subservient to the 
public good ; that the charges for travel and freight should be equitable and uniform, 
and no unjust discrimination should he made between through and local travel and 
freight. 

9. It advocates such modihcation of the present system of taxation as will prove 
of the largest advantage to the interests of the people, and promises most earnest en- 
deavors for the enactment of such laws, and the encouragement of such means, as 
will most speedily develop the resources and build up the manufacturing and indus- 
trial prosperity of South Carolina, and the construction of such new railroads as will 
give the largest and cheapest facilities to all citizens. 

10. It pledges protection, in the truest sense, to the property of the State, and to 
such wise, just, and humane laws as will perfect the education and elevation of the 
working classes. 

11. That with a full faith in the justice of these principles, acknowledging the 
errors of the past, but feeling confident of the ability and determination to correct 
them, we appeal to all true Republicans to vmite in bearing our candidates to victory, 
and we pledge our party to carry out, in the practical administration of the govern- 
ment, every principle inscribed on our standard in the interest of the whole people of 
the State. 

The character of the struggle that ensued needs not to be set 
forth here, because references to it by participants on either side 
are so numerous in subsequent chapters that the reader will have 
no difficulty in understanding its nature. The result of the remark- 
ably earnest and thorough canvass (Mr. Chamberlain himself speak- 
ing in nearly every one of the thirty-two counties of the State) 
was the election of the regular Republican ticket. Mr. Chamber- 
lain received 80,403 votes, and Judge Green 68,814, the vote be- 
ing the largest since 1868. 

At the same time a new Legislature was elected, consisting of 
eighty-two Republicans and forty-two Democrats in the House 
of Representatives, and of twenty-two Republicans and eleven 
Democrats in the Senate, sixty-one of the Representatives and 
sixteen of the Senators beincr colored. 




CHAPTER II. 



Governor Chamberlain's Inaugural Address — An Exhibition of the Condition of 
South Carolina's Affairs — Specific Radical Reforms Proposed. 

MR. CHAMBERLAIN was inaugurated Governor Decem- 
ber I, 1874, and delivered the following Inaugural Ad- 
dress, which not only indicates clearly his own purposes for the 
future, but presents much information necessary for a just under- 
standing of the character of past administrations and the situa- 
tion which confronted the new one. It is a statement of facts 
and conditions fundamental to an intelligent estimate of what 
was afterwards accomplished. 



Fello7v-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I have appeared before you to-day to assume theofificeof Governor, 
and to state my views of the action and policy on the part of our State 
Government which will best promote the public welfare. 

Our recent political canvass presents one or two aspects which are 
significant of the will of the people. The two parties which sought 
supremacy were equally emphatic in their demand for the correction of 
existing abuses in the administration of our Government, and both pre- 
sented to the public the same platform of principles and policy for the 
future conduct of public affairs. The remarkable spectacle Avas thus 
presented, among a people hitherto considered most widely divided 
in their political sympathies and aims, of an absolute identity of 
sentiment upon all the questions which were presented to the public 
by either party. It is true that a large minority of our citizens did not 
take part in either of the political conventions which presented the 
respective candidates for State officers, yet in the election, wherein the 
total number of votes cast was more than twelve thousand greater than 
in any previous election since 1868, only two parties appeared, both of 
which professed to seek similar ends by similar means. The result is 
that we who have been elected to office are united in the general ob- 
jects which we seek and the general methods by which these objects 
are to be reached. 

Without intending to overstate the extent to which our recent party 



ADMINISTRA TION. 1 1 

combinations have bound us in respect to our future action, I con- 
gratulate all our people upon the substantial harmony of purpose which 
now prevails. I take strength and hope from that fact. If we are 
honest in our professions, I cannot find myself in antagonism to any 
member of the executive or legislative departments of our Government, 
except on matters of detail in our common pursuit of the same ends. I 
feel bound to say that, until experience shall correct me, I shall rely 
for support in the course which I intend to pursue, upon those mem- 
bers of the General Assembly who were opposed to me in the recent 
political contest as confidently as upon those who favored my election. 

The paramount duty before us may be stated to be the practice and 
enforcement of economy and honesty in the administration of the Gov- 
ernment. Fortunately our evils are chiefly evils of administration. 
Our State Constitution commands the undivided approval of our peo- 
ple. The body of our statute law is believed to be, in general, just and 
wise. The present demand is for a faithful application and enforce- 
ment of the existing Constitution and laws ; in a word, good adminis- 
tration. 

Wise statesmanship aims at practical results, and concentrates its 
strength upon those measures which are of prime importance. I 
must be pardoned if I omit to catalogue all the matters of public in- 
terest to which consideration must be given by the General Assembly, 
and confine my attention to those topics which appear to be most 
pressing. 

Our earliest and most earnest attention should be directed to the 
subject of the collection, appropriation, and disbursement of the pub- 
lic funds. These matters are fundamental. Our recent experience 
teaches us that a government cannot be strong in popular esteem which 
adopts unjust modes of taxation, imposes unnecessary taxes, expends 
the proceeds of taxation upon improper objects or in undue amounts, 
or permits loose and reckless methods in the disbursement of public 
funds. 

THE TAX SYSTEM. 

Our present tax system grows out of the provisions of the Constitu- 
tion which are contained in Article I, Section ■Tyd, and Article IX, Sec- 
tion I. The leading features of the system are an ad valorem valuation 
and a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation of all property, 
real, personal, and possessory, with certain specified exceptions. Un- 
der existing laws the taxpayer is required to make a statement, under 
oath, annually, to the County Auditor, of all his property subject to 
taxation, and to value the same "at its true value in money," or ''usual 
selling price." It is the duty of the County Auditor to state op- 
posite each taxpayer's .name, in the return made by him, any amount 
which he believes ought to be added to the valuation to be made by 
the taxpayer, and to give notice of such recommendations to the tax- 
payer. 

The returns are then submitted to a County Board of Equalization, 
composed of the County Auditor, County Treasurer, and " three in- 



12 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

telligent taxpaying citizens," to be appointed by the Circuit Judge. 
This Board are required to equalize the vahiation made by the tax- 
payer by raising the vahiation of such property as, in their judgment, 
has been returned below its true value, and by reducing the valuation 
of such as, in their judgment, has been returned above its true value ; 
but they are forbidden to reduce the aggregate value of the real and per- 
sonal property of the county below the aggregate value as returned by 
the County Auditor. Under the construction placed upon the law by the 
present Comptroller General, in which I concur, the aggregate valuation 
of personal property in any county is absolutely fixed by the taxpay- 
ers themselves. The County Board of Equalization merely equalize 
the valuation of any specific personal property as compared with the 
average valuation of the other property of the county. A special 
Board of Equalization for the city of Charleston is provided for, with 
similar powers and duties. 

The returns thus equalized stand, as to the valuations of personal 
property, as the basis of taxation ; but the valuations of real property 
in the several counties are submitted to a State Board of Equalization, 
composed of one member from each congressional district of the State, 
the Governor, Secretary of State, and Comptroller General, whose duty 
it is to add to, or deduct from, the aggregate valuation of the real 
property of each county, or of each town, city, or village in any county, 
such an amount as in their judgment will make the valuations represent 
the true value in money of the property. The returns thus equalized 
stand, as to valuations of real property, as the basis for taxation. 

A special Board of Equalization is provided for, composed of the 
State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Comptroller General, and Attorney 
General, to equalize the value of the property of railroad companies, 
in a manner similar to that prescribed for the other Boards of Equal- 
ization. 

A right of appeal is also given from the County Board of Equaliza- 
tion to the Comptroller General, who is authorized to make abatements 
in taxes in cases of erroneous or illegal assessments. 

The leading purpose of a tax system which rests upon an ad valore?n 
basis should be, in the language of our Constitution, to " secure a just 
valuation for taxation of all property," and to provide safe, convenient, 
and inexpensive methods for the collection of taxes. The ad valorem 
system being fixed by the Constitution, our attention must be directed 
to the pfactical means of carrying out this system. 

Grave dissatisfaction with our tax laws has existed during the past 
six years. The most general and urgent complaint has been that the 
valuations placed upon the property of the State have been, to a large 
degree, capricious and excessive. It has also been believed that exces- 
sive valuations have been made in order to conceal the real extent of 
the burden of taxation. Without attempting to discuss the motives 
which prompted those who enforce the law, I express the opinion that 
the valuations made i)revious to the present year have been, to a great 
extent, unjust and oppressive. Whatever the causes, the result has 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 3 

been that property has born a valuation almost wholly arbitrary when 
different localities or separate pieces of similar property are compared, 
and excessive in amount when tested by any reasonable standard of 
value. 

I see no reason to regard this injustice as a legitimate result of our 
present tax system. On the contrary, my most careful examination 
convinces me that the system will work out a just result if it can be 
placed in the hands of honest and competent officers. Undoubtedly 
the machinery for making valuations is somewhat complicated, if not 
intricate ; but the system will be seen, I think, upon a fair examina- 
tion, to be adapted, in all its features to guarding the rights of the lax- 
payer in respect to assessments, whenever it is administered by those 
who regard the interest of the taxpayers. 

During the past year a new assessment of real property, the fourth 
since 1868, has been made. It is not yet possible for me to judge of 
its correctness, but I am assured by those who have been familiar with 
the work during its progress that it approaches very nearly to the true 
value of the property. I am further informed that the aggregate valu- 
ation of all the property of the State under this assessment will fall 
from thirty to forty millions of dollars below the aggregate of the 
previous assessment. I have confidence that much has been done in 
this assessment to relieve the injustice of former assessments, but I call 
your attention to the subject as one of fundamental importance to the 
whole people. The people demand, and they have a right to demand, 
that property shall be valued for taxation at its true money value, as 
nearly as the imperfection of the human judgment will permit. If the 
present assessment does not reach this standard, then it is our duty to 
adopt such measures as will remove the remaining defects. I shall 
co-operate with the General Assembly in any measures calculated to 
attain the end contemplated by our Constitution and laws, — a just valu- 
ation for taxation of all property according to its true money value. 

In this connection I may remark that so far as the working of our 
tax system depends upon faithful officers appointed by the Governor, I 
intend to see to it that no county shall have just cause of complaint. 
The appointment of County Auditors and County Treasurers now rests 
with the Governor, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. I com- 
mend to your careful consideration the question of making these 
officers elective by the people of the several counties. There are 
some arguments which might be urged in favor of either mode of 
selection. The only test which should be applied in determining the 
question is, which mode will with most certainty secure good officers 
and a faithful enforcement of the laws ? 

My examination of the Act of the General Assembly of March 17, 
1874, commonly called the " Taxation and Assessment Act," leads me 
to recommend that a full revision of that Act be made by some ap- 
propriate means by the General Assembly at this session, in conjunc- 
tion with the Comptroller General, in order to remove inconsistencies 
and supply defects now apparent in the law. 



14 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

I further recommend that the work of equalizing railroad property- 
be given to the State Board of Equalization, provided for by Section 
64 of the " Taxation and Assessment Act." I see no reason for pla- 
cing this power in the hands of a board composed wholly of State 
officers as at present ; on the contrary, I see many reasons for giving 
to the property of our railroad companies all the protection afforded 
to other property. 

REDUCTION OF EXPENSES. 

Having secured a just valuation for taxation of the property of the 
State, our next duty will be to determine the rate per cent, of taxation 
necessary to support the Government. Upon this point the inflexible 
rule should be applied, of limiting the amount of taxes to the actual 
requirements of good government. It should especially be remem- 
bered that the people of this State are not now able to contribute one 
dollar of taxes beyond what the most rigid economy will warrant. 
Probably there will be very little dispute upon this general proposition. 
The work and difficulty will consist in applying it. I deem it my duty, 
therefore, to proceed to point out the specific measures which will, in 
my judgment, tend to bring us nearer to a correct rule of public ex- 
penditure. 

The General Assembly at the last regular session of 1873-74 
adopted the plan of making a specific levy of taxes for each object of 
public expenditure. I most earnestly urge that this plan be observed 
in the future. Its advantages are manifold and obvious. If the legis- 
lative branch is to have control of the public funds, no measure is so 
important to that end as the making of specific levies. 

CONTINGENT FUNDS. 

Assuming that the plan of specific levies will be continued, I pro- 
ceed to indicate certain radical changes in the expenditure of public 
funds, which are demanded by a due regard for honesty and economy. 
Under this head I do not hesitate to characterize the whole system of 
contingent funds which has recently sprung up, as wrong in principle 
and mischievous and demoralizing in effect. During the past six 
years there has been appropriated and paid for contingent funds the 
astounding sum of $376,832.74. I venture the opinion that the State 
would have received equal benefit from one fifth of that sum, if ex- 
pended with economy upon proper objects. In practice, a contingent 
fund is a sum of money which a public officer is allowed to draw and 
expend without the usual accountability. Some governments deem it 
necessary to entrust certain officers with a fund commonly called the 
" secret-service " fund, which may be expended for objects which might 
be defeated by publicity. I confess I am wholly unable to imagine 
any such objects in South Carolina. I think the people of this State 
should be able to trace every dollar of the public funds to the precise 
object on which it is expended. This cannot be done under our 
present system of contingent funds I recommend, therefore, that the 



A DM I A^ IS TRA TION. 1 5 

practice of appropriating contingent funds to be drawn and expended 
by different officers of the State without the usual accountability for 
such expenditures, be wholly discontinued. I recommend in place of 
that system, that distinct appropriations be made for all public objects 
which can be anticipated or enumerated, and then, that a small sum, 
not to exceed ten or twelve thousand dollars, if so much be necessary, 
be appropriated for contingent expenses, to be paid in specified 
amounts to the several officers who may require it, upon the warrant 
of the Comptroller General, drawn upon vouchers to be filed with the 
Comptroller General by the officers obtaining the warrant. 

The records of the expenditure of this fund will thus be placed 
with the Comptroller General, where they will remain accessible to the 
people, and liable at any time to examination and publication. The 
reduction of public expenses by this system will not be inconsiderable, 
while the gain to official morality by the removal of opportunity for 
questionable uses of public funds will be great. 

EXPENSES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

Another subject demanding our most prompt and energetic action 
is the reduction of the expenses of the General Assembly. I cannot 
believe that any difference of opinion will exist upon this subject. The 
public, within and without the State, have united in pronouncing the 
expenditures heretofore made for legislative expenses, an intolerable 
abuse. 

Since 1868 six regular and two special sessions of the General As- 
sembly have been held. The total cost of those sessions has been 
$2,147,430.97. The average cost of each regular session has been 
$320,405.16. The lowest cost of any regular session was that of the 
regular session of 1868-69, amounting to $160,005.79 ; and the highest 
cost was that of the regular session of 1871-72, amounting to about 
$617,234.10. Besides these amounts now specified there are outstand- 
ing of bills payable issued on account of legislative expenses during 
the same period, $192,275.15. These figures render comment super- 
fluous. The problem is to reduce these expenses to an economical 
limit. 

The first and most obvious measure of reform is the shortening of 
the length of the sessions. I find the average length of the regular 
sessions since 1868 has been 105 days. It is clear that no public 
requirements will warrant sessions of such length in the future. I am 
aware that this may be regarded as a matter so peculiarly within the 
discretion of the General Assembly as to make any recommendations 
of mine impertinent. But my convictions of public duty upon this 
point are too clear to allow me, for any cause, to withhold the free ex- 
pression of my views. I cannot see at present any reason of a public 
nature which can require a session of more than thirty days. If this 
General Assembly could set the example of a return to the former rule 
in this State of a final adjournment before the Christmas holidays, I 
am confident that they would receive the heartiest approval of all our 
people. I know of no services which could be rendered by remaining in 



1 6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

session a longer period, which would be held as valuable by our con- 
stituents as the example of a return to rigid economy in this respect. 

One cause of long sessions which I feel bound to specify, has been 
the passage of an inordinate number of special Acts of Incorporation. 
Whoever will examine the Acts of the General Assembly during the 
last six years will be convinced of the waste of time arising from this 
cause. The remedy is obvious. Let a General Incorporation Act be 
passed, or let the present Acts be duly revised and perfected, and then 
let all ordinary applications for corporate powers be made under the 
provisions of such Acts. 

The second measure of retrenchment in legislative expenses which I 
urge, is a reduction of the number of subordinate officers and attaches 
of the General Assembly. Upon this point I am happy to speak in 
commendation of an Act passed by the last General Assembly. By 
that Act the total number of subordinate officers and attaches in both 
branches of the General Assembly is limited to fifty-seven. I trust 
your attention will be given to this subject, and that if, upon examina- 
tion, the number therein ])rovided for is found to be the lowest number 
consistent with the proper transaction of business, the law will remain 
undisturbed. 

The third and most important means of reducing legislative ex- 
penses will be found in cutting off the gross abuses which have here- 
tofore existed under the name of contingent or incidental legislative 
expenses. I am unable to obtain a statement of the precise amount 
expended during the last six years under this head. I find, however, 
that the average expenditure at each regular session since 1868, for 
attaches and contingent or incidental expenses, has been about $258,- 
424.65. Of this amount I estimate that not less than $190,000 have 
been expended for contingent legislative expenses at each regular ses- 
sion. If these figures do not teach their own lesson, then argument 
would be idle. Let it be borne in mind also that the amounts now 
stated represent only the actual payments made. There remains still 
a vast amount of unpaid claims in the form of legislative pay certifi- 
cates, estimated at not less than $500,000. 

In seeking a remedy for these startling grievances I am convinced 
that nothing is so essential as the establishment of a proper system of 
accountability in the payment of legislative expenses. Our present 
system is wholly anomalous, so far as I can learn from examining the 
systems prevailing in other States, and is wholly at variance M'ith the 
general theory of our own State in the payment of other public ex- 
penses. 

The Comptroller General is the proper auditing officer of the State. 
His office is intended to be the permanent depository of the written 
evidences of the expenditure of public funds. The separation of the 
duty of auditing from that of paying demands against the State is es- 
sential. The requirement of proper evidences of the character and 
validity of every demand made against the State, and the preservation 
of those evidences for public inspection, is also essential. 



A n MINIS TRA TION. 1 7 

In order to meet these requirements, I recommend that all pay- 
ments to be made on account of legislative expenses be made by the 
State Treasurer, upon warrants drawn by the Comptroller General, for 
which the vouchers shall be filed with the Comptroller General. 

In the payment of members, subordinate officers, attaches, etc., the 
only voucher requisite would be a duly certified list of all persons who 
held these positions. The Comptroller General, having satisfied him- 
self of the correctness of the lists furnished by the officers of the 
General Assembly and of the authority of law for their payment, would 
then draw his warrants upon the Treasurer for the proper sums of 
money. 

In the payment of contingent expenses each branch of the General 
Assembly would, by committee or otherwise, make such audit as might 
be deemed necessary of such accounts, and order their payment. The 
vouchers thus accepted by the General Assembly would be -sent to the 
office of the Comptroller General, and there remain forever exposed to 
the scrutiny of the public, and payment would be made by the Treas- 
urer only on the warrant of the Comptroller General. 

Let no one imagine that I feel any distrust of this General Assem- 
bly, or of its presiding officers, but I know that nothing is so vital in 
such matters as a correct system. Wise laws are expressions of correct 
rules of civil conduct. The best guaranty against individual dishon- 
esty in financial transactions is a system which has no open doors to 
deception or fraud. Rigid accountability and constant exposure to 
publicity, I venture to pronounce the foremost requisites of a good 
system for the disbursement of public funds. 

I respectfully and most earnestly urge immediate attention to this 
subject. Nothing can exceed it in importance. Consideration for the 
public good demands such action as will finally close the doors to a 
recurrence of the reckless expenditures which have attended our 
recent legislative sessions. 

PUBLIC PRINTING. 

I recommend that your earliest attention be directed to the matter 
of the public printing. The system which has prevailed for the past 
three years is utterly incapable of defense or excuse. The looseness of 
the system in theory is only equalled by its extravagance in practice. 
Under this system the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives were empowered to contract for the public printing, 
and the drafts or orders for the payment of printing expenses were 
made payable upon the certificates of those officers alone, " out of any 
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." No limit was 
fixed to the amount for which the contracts should be made. Under 
the system of making a general levy of taxes, no specific funds in the 
Treasury at any specified time were considered as specifically appropri- 
ated. The result was that under this system it was in the power of the 
clerks of the two houses to draw, on account of public printing, to an 
unlimited extent upon the public funds, without reference to the 
sufficiency of those funds to meet the demands of other appropriations. 



1 8 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

More recently, however, the General Assembly has made definite 
appropriations for payment of printing accounts. 

A few statistics will show how such a system has resulted in prac- 
tice. The cost of the permanent and current printing from 1868 to the 
present time was $843,073.59. The cost of advertising the statutes, 
that is, of printing them in the newspapers, for the same period was 
$261,496.32; making a total cost of $1,104,569.91. During the past 
three years the cost to the State of permanent and current printing was 
$743,933.20, and the cost of printing the laws in newspapers for the 
same period was $174,696.66 ; making a total cost to the State of 
$918,629.86. Deducting from this last amount such items of printing 
as may be called extraordinary, including the republication of certain 
volumes of the statutes at large, the printing of the Ku-Klux trials, 
immigration reports, tax duplicates, and Supreme-Court decisions, 
amounting'to $375,000, there remains as the cost of printing for three 
years the sum of $543,629.86, or an average annual cost of $181,209.95. 

I offer no comment on these statistics. The only appropriate 
inquiry is, how shall such results be prevented hereafter ? I answer, 
by exterminating the present system, root and branch, and substituting 
a safe and economical system. Such a system can easily be pointed 
out. Let advertisement be made by order of the General Assembly 
for proposals for doing the necessary public printing of all kinds for 
the State for a fixed period, specifying the various kinds and amounts 
of printing required, with the option of ordering more work of any 
specified kind at fixed rates, and requiring a suitable bond to accom- 
pany each proposal, for the faithful execution of the work according 
to the proposals. Let these proposals be presented to the General 
Assembly and the most advantageous one be accepted. In this way 
the State may remove the present abuses and secure an honest and 
economical result. 

In this connection I call your attention to an Act passed by the last 
General Assembly, entitled "An Act to regulate the public printing," 
to be found at page 707, of the Acts of 1873-74. This Act doubtless 
would have accomplished a good result but for the insertion of the last 
four lines of the first section. It is evident that no proposal can ever 
be made under this Act, since the amount of work required to be 
done can never be estimated. If the lines referred to were expunged 
from this Act, it would serve as an illustration of the system which I 
have recommended. 

I consider the cost of advertising or reprinting the Acts of the Gen- 
eral Assembly in the newspapers of the State a w-holly unnecessary 
expense, and I recommend the total discontinuance of the practice. 
If any laws are enacted which it is important should be published at 
once for the information of the people, it will be the interest of the 
newspapers to publish them as a matter of public information. If 
this is not done, a number of extra copies can be ordered by the 
General Assembly from the public printer at a trifling cost and be sent 
to the clerks of courts or other officers for distribution. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 9 



DEFICIENCIES. 



Another reform which I urge upon the General Assembly is the 
keeping of the expenditures of the State within its receipts. Very little 
regard seems to have been hitherto paid to this obvious requirement of 
good administration. The existing deficiencies, running back to iS68, 
are simply enormous. The deficiencies for the fiscal year ending 
October 31, 1874, were $472,619.54. The deficiencies for the fiscal 
year ending October 31, 1873, were $540,328, of which about $440,000 
have been paid during the last fiscal year, leaving about $100,000 still 
unpaid. The levy of taxes made the present year for payment of 
deficiencies for the last fiscal year will not be sufficient to pay more 
than one half the amount of such deficiencies. The evils of such a 
practice are serious. The amount of money needed should be first 
ascertained, and then a levy should be made adequate to raise that 
amount. 

CERTIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS. 

During the past year a class of State obligations called " certificates 
of indebtedness" was issued to the amount of $231,996, and the State 
Treasurer was directed to make other issues of the same obligations to 
the amount of about $340,000. 

Fortunately the right of the General Assembly to authorize such 
issues has been contested in our Supreme Court, and thence carried, 
by writ of error, to the Supreme Court of the United States, where 
the cases are now pending. Without discussing the constitutional 
question involved, I feel called upon to express the hope that the 
General Assembly will not, under any circumstances, resort again to 
such an expedient. At a time when the national government is em- 
barrassed with the great problem of restoring the national currency to 
a sound basis, let not this State further complicate the evils of an 
inconvertible paper medium by the introduction of another paper 
medium, which will necessarily circulate as money at rates greatly 
below its par value, but which has none of the qualities which belong 
to money, in its proper sense. To say that the people have gladly 
accepted the certificates of indebtedness does not prove that it is either 
honorable or honest in the State to issue them. 

Another wide departure from correct administration has obtained 
for several years past — the issuing of orders, certificates, and warrants 
forthe payment of money from the State treasury when no funds are 
on hand for their payment. I am not prepared to say that this practice 
can be immediately forbidden by law without too serious embarrass- 
ment to public interests, but I recommend the matter to the attention 
of the General Assembly. The evils of such a practice are great. It 
has already been forbidden in the administration of county affairs, 
and. an effort should be made to return to a correct practice in this 
respect. The effect of such a practice upon the credit of the State 
is not essentially different from the case of an individual who should 
issue checks upon a bank when the bank held no funds applicable 
to their payment. 



20 GOVERNOR CIIAMBERkAIN' S 

REDUCTION OF THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS. 

An opinion prevails widely with the public that the number of pub- 
lic officers and the amount of salaries now allowed by law are greatly 
in excess of the public requirements. I am not now prepared to 
express an opinion upon a subject which requires so much care and 
investigation in order to reach a correct result. If any reductions of 
expenses can be made by abolishing offices or reducing salaries, I shall 
give my most hearty support to any plan which will accomplish that 
end, and I recommend that immediate attention be directed to the 
matter. 

In this connection I call attention to the necessity of requiring 
County Treasurers, and perhaps County Auditors, to give bonds di- 
rectly to the county. At present the bonds of these officers run to the 
State alone. It is questioned by some whether a suit can be maintained 
by the county upon such a bond ; but however that may be, in cases of 
default where the bond is inadequate to cover the whole loss, there is at 
present no law for determining in what way the unsecured remainder of 
loss shall be apportioned between county and State. It is plain that the 
county should be amply protected by adequate bonds for the custody 
and disbursement of county funds. 

THE PUBLIC DEBT. 

No subject will deserve greater attention or wiser action than the 
public debt of the State. At the last session of the General Assembly 
an Act was passed entitled " An Act to reduce the volume of the public 
debt and to provide for the payment of the same." By that Act the 
State Treasurer was authorized to issue in exchange for certain speci- 
fied bonds and stocks of the State then outstanding, together with the 
coupons and interest orders which should become due on or before the 
ist of January, 1874, new bonds or stocks equal in amount to fifty per 
centum of the face value of the bonds and stocks and coupons of inter- 
est orders presented for exchange. The bonds and stocks and coupons 
and interest orders thus specified as exchangeable, amounted to $11,- 
480,033.91. The remainder of the apparent funded debt of the State, 
consisting of what are known as " conversion bonds," and amounting 
to $5,965,000, was declared to have been " put on the market without 
any authority of law," and to be " absolutely null and void." 

The new bonds and stocks authorized by this Act were required 
to " bear upon their face the declaration that the payment of the inter- 
est and the redemption of the j^rincipal is secured by the levy of an 
annual tax of two mills on the dollar upon the entire taxable property 
of the State, which declaration shall be considered a contract entered 
into between the State and every holder of said bonds and stocks." 

It was further provided that these new bonds and stocks should 
bear six per cent, interest, payable semi-annually at the State Treasury 
and in New York, the first coupon to fall due July i, 1874, and all 
coupons or interest orders upon said bonds or stocks were made 



ADMINISTRA TION. 2 1 

receivable " in payment of all taxes due the State during the year in 
which they mature, except for tax levied for the public schools." 

The faith, credit, and funds of the State were solemnly pledged 
for " the punctual payment of the interest and final redemption of the 
principal of said bonds and stocks, and for providing a surplus fund for 
that purpose." 

Provision was also made for a fund, to be kept separate and apart 
from all other funds, and to be applied, first, to the annually accruing 
interest upon the new bonds and stocks ; second, to the extinguishment 
of the principal of the public debt by the annual purchase of bonds and 
stocks at the lowest market-price. The Act further contained provisions 
for a public registry of all the new bonds and stocks, and provided 
heavy penalties for any dereliction of duty on the part of any officer 
in the execution of the law. 

The leading features of this scheme are the reduction of that part 
of the public debt which was considered valid to one half its par value, 
and the rejection of that part which was considered invalid. The Act 
was passed after long deliberation, and was at the time of its passage, 
and has since been, the object of public attention and discussion 
throughout the State. In the recent political canvass of this State, 
both parties especially pledged themselves to maintain this " settlement 
of the public debt." So far as I have learned the sentiment of the peo- 
ple of this State, they are wholly united in support of this measure. It 
must therefore be regarded, so far as legislative and popular influence 
and action can go, as a final settlement. 

The ground upon which this measure rests as to its reduction of the 
volume of the debt, is the inability of the State to pay the debt in full. 
As to the part of the debt which is wholly rejected, it is held that it was 
issued without authority of law, and hence that it is not a legal obliga- 
tion of the State. 

During the five months since this Act was put in operation by the 
State officers, over two millions of dollars of the old bonds and stocks 
have been exchanged. When the entire outstanding valid debt shall 
have been exchanged, the principal of our public debt will amount to 
$5,740,016.95. The annual interest upon this amount will be $344,- 
402.02. The tax annually levied to pay the interest on this debt will at 
all times be held in readiness to pay all interest which accrues on the 
new bonds on and after July i, 1874, whenever the exchange shall be 
effected. 

Article XIV of the State Constitution, ratified January 29, 1873, 
forbids any increase of the public debt of the State by the loan of the 
credit of the State by guaranty, endorsement, or otherwise, until the 
question of such increase shall have been submitted to the qualified 
voters of the State at a general State election, and unless two thirds of 
the voters voting on this question shall be in favor of such increase. 
It is believed that this provision will be an effectual guard against any 
further increase of the public debt. 

The Supreme Court of this State has decided that a provision, such as 



22 GOVERNOR CIlAMBKRnAIN'S 

is contained in the present Act, for the levy of an annual tax is a con- 
tract between the State and its creditor, and is capable of enforce- 
ment by process of law directed against the proper officers of the State, 
and, furthermore, that such a provision operates of itself, not only as a 
levy of the tax, but as an appropriation of the proceeds of the levy to 
the purposes designated in the Act. Under this decision the provision 
for an annual tax remains a permanent levy and appropriation, and no 
further legislation is necessary from year to year to accomplish the pur- 
poses of the Act in this respect. 

These provisions of law, together with the provision which makes all 
coupons or interest orders upon the new bonds receivable for taxes dur- 
ing the year in which they mature, give to the new bonds all the legal 
safeguards which it is possible to place around them. 

I cannot believe that any party, nor even any man, will hereafter dare 
to interpose an objection to the prompt discharge of these new obliga- 
tions of the State. Confidence in these matters is a plant of slow 
growth. Once trampled on and crushed, it revives with exceeding 
slowness, and flourishes only under long and tender care. If the ex- 
perience of any State should have impressed this lesson, surely it is the 
experience of South Carolina. It now becomes our paramount duty to 
labor to restore our ruined State credit by the only means apparently 
left us — a prompt, unhesitating, and conscientious discharge of every 
obligation incurred under the law which authorizes the consolidation of 
the public debt. In this we may hope, little by little, to win back some 
part of that public credit, the loss of which is among the saddest calam- 
ities which have befallen our State. 

BILLS OF THE BANK OF THE STATE. 

I consider it my duty to call attention to the relations of the State to 
the bills of the Bank of the State. By the charter of the bank these 
bills were made receivable for taxes and other dues to the State. The 
insolvency of the bank has rendered the liability of the State the chief 
element of value in these bills. The State, by her proper officers, 
having refused to receive the bills in payment of taxes, proceedings 
were had in our courts to compel the reception of the bills issued prior 
to December 20, 1S60, which were terminated in 1868 by funding such 
bills in bonds of the State. There then remained outstanding the bills 
issued by the bank after December 20, i860. The State refusing to 
receive these bills, legal proceedings were again begun and continued in 
the courts of the State, and finally in the Supreme Court of the United 
States. In these cases it was decided, in October, 1873, that the bills in 
question were valid obligations which the State was bound to receive for 
taxes under the contract embraced in the charter of the bank. Owing 
to the embarrassed condition of the State at the time when these deci- 
sions were finally rendered, the State has continued to refuse all bills 
not specifically involved in the suits referred to. A large number of 
taxpayers have, however, tendered the bills in payment of taxes, and 
upon the refusal of the tax officers to receive them, have again resorted 



A DMINIS TRA TIOiV. 2 3 

to the courts for the enforcement of their claims. A large number of 
suits are now pending. The collection of taxes in other funds from 
those who have tendered these bills, has been enjoined both by the State 
courts and the District Court of the United States. It is certain that a 
much larger amount of the bills will be tendered in payment of the 
present levy of taxes, and if the collection of taxes is again enjoined 
by the courts, it is plain that great embarrassment will result to the 
State. I cannot resist the conviction that it is impossible for the State 
finally to avoid the redemption of these bills. When that time shall 
come the bills will fall, like an avalanche, on the Treasury, and being 
without value after redemption they will practically stop the ordinary 
supplies of the State. 

I am therefore forced to recommend that the attention of the Gen- 
eral Assembly be directed to the development of some plan by which 
these obligations may be met without disaster to the State. Towards 
this end, I am, at present, able to make but one suggestion. If the State 
should offer to receive these bills for all taxes now past due, and for a 
■certain fraction of all future taxes, I am confident an arrangement might 
be effected by which the redemption of the bills may be distributed 
over a term of years, instead of being permitted to embarrass the State 
by their compulsory reception in one body. A similar plan was adopted 
in the State of Tennessee, under like circumstances, in 1868. I most 
earnestly advise that the matter be taken in hand by the General As- 
sembly without delay. 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND CONSTABLES. 

I call the attention of the General Assembly to the provisions of 
Sections i, 21, 22, 23, and 24 of Article IV of the State Constitution. 
These sections provide for the election by the people of the several 
counties, of Justices of the Peace and Constables. These provisions 
of the Constitution remain wholly dormant and nugatory. In the 
place of the system thus established by the Constitution, we have a class 
of officers called Trial Justices, who exercise a jurisdiction similar to 
that given by the Constitution of the State to Justices of the Peace, and 
who are further authorized to appoint Constables. 

The election by the people of Justices of the Peace and Constables 
is, without question, a constitutional right of the people, and unless the 
present system can be made more useful and satisfactory, the enforce- 
ment of the constitutional provisions referred to will, I am sure, be 
demanded by the people. The General Assembly is responsible at all 
times for the failure to enforce the constitutional system. 

Of the practical results of the Trial-Justice system as heretofore 
administered, I hear but one opinion, namely, that it is costly, in- 
efficient, and oppressive. The whole number of Trial Justices allowed 
by law is three hundred and forty-seven. Even this number has, I am 
informed, been exceeded by some process in actual practice. I am con- 
vinced that the number should be reduced immediately by at least one 



24 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

third. The incumbents of these offices are to a great extent deficient 
in the quaHties which make a useful magistrate. 

I leave the question of the enforcement of the constitutional system 
with the General Assembly without venturing an opinion of my own, but 
I shall deem it my duty, while the present system remains, to use the 
power of appointment now conferred on the Governor in such a way as 
to give to the people Trial Justices who will know the law and will use 
their powers to preserve the rights and protect the interests of all. 
This duty will be onerous and difficult, but I shall endeavor to dis- 
charge it without fear or favor. 

BOARD OK STATE CANVASSERS. 

The law in respect to the Board of State Canvassers requires amend- 
ment in some particulars in order to secure its useful and efficient 
working. Previous to the present year the general State election was 
held on the third Wednesday in October. The law required the Board 
of County Canvassers to meet on the Tuesday next following the elec- 
tion, and to make and transmit their returns to the Board of State Can- 
vassers within ten days irom the time of their first meeting. The Sec- 
retary of State was then required to convene the Board of State Can- 
vassers on or before the tenth day of November next after the general 
election. By an amendment to the Constitution the general elections 
now take place on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of No- 
vember, and the times for the meeting of the County and State Boards 
of Canvassers should now be changed so as to be in harmony with 
the change in the time of the general elections. As the law now stands 
the two Boards were required to meet on the same day in the present 
year. 

Again, the Board of State Canvassers was originally intended to be 
composed of seven members, namely, the Secretary of State, Comptroller 
General, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Adjutant 
and Inspector General, and the Chairman of the Committee on Priv- 
ileges and Elections of the House of Representatives. The office of 
State Auditor has since been abolished, and inasmuch as, by the Con- 
stitution, the terms of office of the Senators and Representatives chosen 
at a general election begin on the Monday following such election, there 
is no person holding the position of Chairman of the Committee on 
Privileges and Elections of the House of Representatives at the time 
of the meeting of the Board of State Canvassers. The Board is thus 
reduced to five members. I simply wish to call attention to this re- 
sult, in order that the General Assembly may consider whether any 
change shall be made in the present condition of the Board. 

I also call attention to the omission of any specific provisions of 
law for the action of the Board of State Canvassers in cases of special 
elections. The power heretofore exercised in such cases rests wholly 
on implication. 

I also call attention to the present uncertainty of the law in re- 
spect to the nature of the powers conferred on the Board of State Can- 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 2 5 

vassers, and the want of any provisions for enabling the Board to hear 
and determine cases of contested elections. It is held by many persons 
that the powers of the Board are wholly ministerial. If this be so, 
the requirement that the Board " shall decide all cases under protest or 
contest that may arise when the power to do so does not, by the Con- 
stitution, reside in some other body," seems to be of little force or 
value. 

In addition to this grave question of power, the law provides no 
mode in which the Board may obtain testimony, so as to enable it to 
decide cases of contested elections upon proper evidence and with 
fairness to both parties. 

The several matters now pointed out should receive the atten- 
tion of the General Assembly. 

REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS. 

The Constitution of the State, in Section 3, Article VIII, declares 
that " it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide, from 
time to time, for the registration of all electors." No registration of 
electors has been inade or provided for since the adoption of the Con- 
stitution. I recommend that this requirement of the Constitution be 
no longer disregarded. The obvious justice of a registration of elec- 
tors, aside from the positive mandate of the Constitution, renders any 
argument in its favor needless. 

COMMISSIONERS OF ELECTION. 

Recent events have called public attention to the power claimed 
and exercised by the Governor, not only of appointing, but of sum- 
marily removing, the Commissioners of Election. The law requires 
the Governor to appoint the Commissioners of Election at least sixty 
days prior to the election. It is difficult to believe that it was intended 
to render this provision nugatory by allowing the Governor to remove 
them at will at any time before the election. I submit this subject 
to the General Assembly without further comment, except to say that 
the wisest mode of appointment of the Commissioners of Election, 
as well as the proper limitations of the power of appointment, are 
matters which demand the careful attention of the General Assembly. 

INSURANCE DEPOSITS. 

I call attention to the propriety of a revision or repeal of the 
present provisions of law requiring deposits by insurance companies 
of stocks or bonds of the State or United States for the protection 
of policy-holders within the State. Owing to the condition of the 
funded debt of the State, the deposits heretofore made by some com- 
panies have become nearly worthless. If protection to the policy- 
holders is to be secured by means of such deposits, the object in many 
instances is not now reached. The unequal effect of the present law 
upon companies already doing and those proposing to do business in 



26 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the State, is likewise apparent. My own judgment inclines to the 
belief that good policy dictates the repeal of the present law. Free 
competition would then prevail, and our citizens would look for their 
security only to the history and character of the companies. In this 
way I think better results would be reached than under the present law. 

SPECIAL TAX IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY. 

The General Assembly by an Act approved March 13, 1872, provi- 
ded for a tax of one half of a mill on the dollar on the property of those 
counties in which the writ of habeas corpus was suspended by the 
proclamation of the President of the United States in 1871, the pro- 
ceeds to constitute a pension fund for the support of indigent widows 
and orphans of those persons who had been killed in those counties 
because of their political opinions. This tax has been levied for the past 
two years in Fairfield County; but there are no persons in that county 
who are entitled to the benefit of the fund. I recommend, therefore, 
that the law be amended so as to relieve that county from this tax. 

THE PARDONING POWER. 

I think it is proper that I should state on this occasion that, in the 
exercise of the power conferred on the Governor by the Constitution 
" to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction," I shall endeavor to 
keep in view the end for which our criminal laws are framed — the re- 
pression of crime and the protection of society. The occasions will be 
rare and attended by peculiar circumstances, on which I shall feel 
justified in setting aside the judgments of our courts and the ver- 
dicts of our juries. 

EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS. 

The great subject of education will demand your most serious 
attention. I wish I could impress upon the General Assembly and 
upon all our people the fundamental and incalculable importance of 
this subject in its relations to every other interest of the State. The 
peculiar evils and dangers to which the people of this State are ex- 
posed will find their certain and permanent cure only in the thorough 
diffusion of education. We have met here to-day to begin the great 
work of reform in our public affairs ; we find errors and abuses, and 
we seek to apply a remedy by the enactment of new laws or the change 
of old laws ; but let us know and remember that the complete accom- 
plishment of our hopes for good government will never come until the 
common school shall reach and mold the minds of all those who exer- 
cise the political powers of the State. In vain shall we build, if we neg- 
lect this foundation. Stronger than our strongest statute, more benefi- 
cent than our wisest statesmanship, more enduring than any form of 
government or method of administration, is the siient influence of the 
school. There lies our hope. Show me the open door of the school- 
house crowded with our children and youth, and I can look beyond the 
"discouragements of this hour and discern that future South Carolina 



ADMINISTRA TION. 2/ 

wherein intelligence and virtue shall everywhere uphold and guard 
her prosperity and honor. 

I advise, therefore, in advance, against any reduction of public ex- 
penditure by reducing the appropriations for educational purposes. 
The aggregate amount expended for these purposes is not too great, but 
there is much occasion for efforts to make our school system more effi- 
cient. A perusal of the reports of the State Superintendent of Edu- 
cation will show that much has already been done. A few statistics 
will indicate the progress already made. The number of free common 
schools in the State m 1870, was 769. The number in 1873 was 2,017. 
The number of pupils in attendance in 1870 was 30,448. The number 
in 1873 was 83,753. The number of teachers employed in 1869 was 
734. The number employed in 1873 was 2,310. I believe there has 
been a steady progress since 1870, not only in the number of our 
schools, but in their efficiency and standard of instruction. 

There are, however, great hindrances in reaching satisfactory results. 
First of all, there is wanting such a general interest on the part of all 
our people as is essential to an efficient common-school system. Noth- 
ing can supply this want except the will of the people themselves. 
Perhaps the chief hindrance has been the wani; of capacity and devo- 
tion to their work on the part of the County School Commissioners. 
The powers of these Commissioners in the management of schools, 
the appointment of teachers, and the expenditure of school funds in 
their respective counties, are almost absolute. The relations of the 
State Superintendent to the County School Commissioners are almost 
wholly advisory. 

1 recommend that careful examination be made into this feature 
of the school system to ascertain whether any change can be made 
which will remedy the want of efficiency on the part of County School 
Commissioners. 

In general, I recommend that careful attention be given to the 
school system in all its features. It is not enough to continue to make 
appropriations for school purposes. The whole number of persons in 
this State between the ages of six and sixteen, is 230,102, and of this 
number only 83,753 now attend schools — scarcely more than one third 
of the whole number. This fact suggests the need of greater efforts 
to extend our school system so that it may embrace a far greater num- 
ber of our school population. 

I have but one specific recommendation to make upon this subject. 
Our educational system at present consists of our common schools 
at one extreme, and our State University at the other. There is no 
proper intermediate link to connect these extremes. To reach the Uni- 
versity the pupil must leave the common school and seek his prepara- 
tion for the University elsewhere. I think the system should be so 
modified as to supply this defect, and this, I think, can be done with- 
out necessarily increasing the cost of the system. The plan I would 
propose is to select one or two of the most efficient of our present com- 
mon schools in each county and elevate them to the grade of ordinary 



28 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

high schools, and open them upon proper conditions to the more 
advanced pupils in the common schools. To accomplish this end, I 
would suggest that a part, perhaps one fourth or one fifth, of the 
present appropriation for public schools in each county be assigned to 
the purpose now stated. I would further suggest that, for the present, 
the control of this class of schools be committed to a board of High- 
School Commissioners, to be selected in such a manner as to secure 
the best men in the State to aid in this effort to improve and perfect 
our school system. I am convinced that a plan substantially such as 
I have suggested would elevate the standard of our common schools 
and supply pupils with proper attainments for our University. 

CONCLUSION. 

Senators and Representatives : I have now made known to you 
my views upon those matters which seem to me to be of most urgent 
importance to our welfare as a State at the present time. Owing to the 
want of the information to be obtained from the reports of the va- 
rious officers in charge of the several departments of the Government 
and the public institutions, I am obliged to omit the consideration of 
some topics which will necessarily command a part of your attention. 
At an early day it will be my duty to present to you some additional 
recommendations touching several important interests of the State. 

The views now presented are the best contribution which it is in 
my power to make towards the removal of present evils and the res- 
toration of good government. I offer them with deference to the 
General Assembly. To the accomplishment of the general results 
which I have indicated, so far as lies in my power, I am unalterably 
pledged. In the methods best adapted to accomplish those results I 
have no personal plans or wishes which I shall deem important in com- 
parison with the results to be accomplished. 

The work which lies before us is serious beyond that which falls 
to the lot of most generations of men. It is nothing less than the 
reestablishment of society in this State upon the foundation of 
absolute equality of civil and political rights. The evils attending our 
first steps in this work have drawn upon us the frowns of the whole 
world. Those who opposed the policy upon which our State was 
restored to her practical relations with the Union have already visited 
us with the verdict of absolute condemnation. Those who framed 
and enforced that policy are filled with an anxiety for the result, in 
which fear often predominates over hope. The result, under Divine 
Providence, rests with us. 

For myself I here avow the same confidence in the final result 
which I have hitherto felt. The evils which surround us are such 
as might well have been predicted by a sagacious mind before they 
appeared. They are deplorable, but they will be transitory. The great 
permanent influences which rule in civilized society are constantly at 
work, and will slowly lift us into a better life. Our foundations are 
strong and sure. Already we have seen the day when no party or 



ADMINISTRATION. 29 

man in our State was bold enough to seek the favor of the people 
except upon the most explicit pledges to remove our present abuses. 
If we who are here to-day shall fail in our duty, others more honest 
and capable will be called to our places. Through us or through 
others freedom and justice will bear sway in South Carolina. 

I enter upon my duties as Governor with a just sense, as I hope, of 
my own want of such wisdom and experience as the position demands. 
I shall need the friendly aid not only of my political associates but of 
all men who love our State. 

We must move forward and upward to better things. In per- 
forming my part of this work the highest favor I ask, next to the Divine 
favor, which I now invoke, is that no man will urge me to do an 
act inconsistent with the principles and pledges upon which the 
people have intrusted us with our present powers. 



From the Governor's exposure of the State finances, it appears 
that during the six years from 1868 to 1874 — the period of the 
Scott and Moses administrations, — the expenditures of public 
funds for the single item of executive contingent expenses 
amounted to $376,832.74. Another fact which appears is that, 
during the same period, the expenditures for the Legislature — that 
is, merely the per-diein salary and mileage of members, pay of 
employes, cost of stationery, etc. — were $2,147,430.97, the average 
cost of each session being $320,405.16. Also, that besides these 
extraordinary amounts which had been paid on account of legis- 
lative expenses, so called, there were then outstanding in the 
community and unpaid, certificates, or bills payable for legislative 
expenses, to the amount of $192,275.15. 

The cost of the permanent and current legislative printing for 
the same period was $843,073.59. With $174,696.66, the cost 
of printing the statutes in newspapers, added, the total cost of 
public printing for this period was $918,629.86. It appears, 
also, that the existing unpaid deficiencies of the two preceding 
years (1873-74) were over $575,000, together with a class of out- 
standing indebtedness called " certificates of indebtedness," issued 
in payment of current expenses, amounting to $231,996, with a 
further authorized issue of $340,000. 

In addition, therefore, to the increase of the public bonded 
debt during six years by thirteen million dollars, there was a 
further increase in the form of floating indebtedness, of nearly 
or quite one million dollars. The correction of this habit of 



30 GO VERNOK CHA MBERLA IN ' S ^.4 DM IN IS TRA TION. 

reckless extravagance was one of the reforms now to be vigor- 
ously undertaken, and he, upon whom the duty of leadership in 
the work had been imposed knew that wounds, such as had been 
inflicted upon the prosperity and credit of this State, could not be 
healed without being fearlessly probed and explored/ 

Although Governor Chamberlain was elected under circum- 
stances which might have warranted some discussion of the 
relations of the races, if not of the spirit of parties, in 
South Carolina, his Address contained no word which could be 
construed as an evidence of bitterness or partisanship. The 
Chief Magistrate recognized no difference, or reasons of differ- 
ence, between any citizens, who sought with one purpose the 
things that would make for the establishment on firm founda- 
tions of the honor and prosperity of the commonwealth. When, 
in his first message to Congress, President Arthur made no refer- 
ence to what had been known as " the Southern question," 
and by this significant silence implied that thenceforth all sec- 
tions of the country should be regarded as loyal, having a 
common sentiment of nationality and a common interest in the 
general welfare, it was justly regarded as an evidence of wise 
statesmanship. In this wisdom he was anticipated by Governor 
Chamberlain under circumstances more provocative of indul- 
gence in criticism and vindication. 

' Vulncra nisi (acta tractataque sanari non possunt. — LiVY. 







CHAPTER III. 



Reception of the Inaugural Address — The Effect upon Public Opinion, North and 
South, and upon the People of South Cai-olina — Comments of the Charleston 
News and Courier, Harper's Weekly, The Nation, and Other Journals. 

TO say that Governor Chamberlain's first official utterance 
surprised the people of the State and the country, hardly 
does justice to the sentiment generally expressed. Although it 
was as far as possible from a sentimental address, but, on the 
contrary, was a plain, businesslike statement of the affairs of 
the State and, in its views and recommendations, was in strict 
accordance with the platform of his party and his own speeches 
before election, it attracted the attention of the country in a 
remarkable manner, and in South Carolina caused a profound 
sensation. For the first time, since the reorganization of the 
State Government, a Governor appeared able to know and un- 
afraid to reveal to the uttermost both the facts and the causes 
of the evils under which the community labored, and to have 
an earnest intention of eradicating them. Without dissimulation 
and without extravagance he had portrayed the unfortunate 
condition of the State, the result in large part of causes for 
which his own party was responsible, the continuance of which 
he earnestly, even confidently, declared his purpose of prevent- 
ing. In its spirit and temper, as well as in its substance, the 
Address was a different document from any thing that had before 
emanated from the Republican party in South Carolina, or in 
any Southern State, an indication of that rare phenomenon in any 
State — a party leader more concerned with the offences of his 
own supporters against honor and sound policy than with the mis- 
doing of his opponents. It afforded the spectacle of a politician 
acting as if he believed parties should somewhat regard that 
most difficult and most ignored of all rules of conduct, " First 

31 



32 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

cast out the beam out of thine own eye." No wonder there was 
amazement everywhere. 

The " white man's party " in the State hailed the Address with 
satisfaction, because it promised at least an effort to check the ex- 
travagance and demoralization which had become oppressive. 
They had found no fault with the Governor's professions and 
pledges heretofore, except that, with their experience of his 
party's conduct, ante-election professions of reform could not be 
trusted. They knew that he was by conviction, as well as by 
association and practice, an ardent supporter of the doctrine of 
equal rights ; that he believed the frcedmen capable of sharing 
on equal terms the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. 
They knew, also, that he was a Republican, that the Republican 
party in South Carolina, whatever might be the fact in the 
Northern States, contained a vast body of ignorance whose 
official representatives, with few exceptions, had been not only 
incompetent but venal, and they did not believe that any of^cer 
dependent upon that party would dare to rebuke or obstruct 
the corrupted inclinations of its local leaders. Therefore when 
this Governor, upon assuming the duties of his office, showed that 
he did not consider his election the complete triumph of reform, 
but, on the contrary, held that the real work was yet to be begun, 
and when he advanced a definite programme of aims and meth- 
ods in which no element of insincerity or weakness appeared, 
they began to have hope that something would be effected. To 
them the Inaugural Address was an unexpected assurance of 
good intentions, and their representative journals commended 
it with heartiness, even while they still distrusted its author's 
firmness and fortitude. 

It had a similar happy effect upon that portion of the people 
in the Northern States in whom the monstrous misgovernment 
of South Carolina had produced a wish for the overthrow of the 
party in power. Of course the Northern Democrats desired the 
defeat of the Republicans in South Carolina as a matter of par- 
tisan advantage, and during this administration they were, as a 
rule, far less just in their judgment of his actions than the Demo- 
crats of his own and other Southern States. But a large sec- 
tion of the Republican party in the North, represented by journals 



ADMINISTRA TION. 33 

of higli character and wide influence, had believed the demor- 
alization of the party in that State so deep, complete, and 
scandalous, that it was incapable of reformation unless deprived 
of power and opportunity. Having little knowledge of the Re- 
publican candidate, except what was gathered from South Caro- 
lina papers, which, during the election canvass, did not acknowl- 
edge that he was any better than, or different from, the worst of 
his supporters, they had wished for his defeat, and they regretted 
his election as a new lease of power to the combination of 
cunning knaves with ignorant freedmen by which the South 
had been plundered, and their party everywhere subjected to 
taint and shame. To them the new Governor's Inaugural Address 
was a welcome surprise, kindling a hope that at last a man had 
appeared who would do something to redeem the name " carpet- 
bagger " from the reproach which had attached to it, not without 
good reason. 

On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that a large 
proportion of the party that had supported Governor Chamber- 
lain at the polls, including most of those who had been accom- 
plices in the iniquity of the former administrations, were not 
less amazed, although their emotion was of another cast. That 
candidates and ofificials should profess devotion to economy, and 
justice, and reform, was nothing new. It had come to be under- 
stood among them that this was the proper thing to do, an 
expected hypocrisy, and in the art of it they were well versed. 
But there was in this Address a severely practical application 
of what they considered only the cant of politics, a deep-toned 
sincerity, an absence of congratulation and flattery, a suggestion 
of duty and labor and sacrifice, altogether so different from any 
thing before known of their party leaders, that they were at a loss 
what to think of it or of its author. They felt that he was 
committing himself too freely and too far ; that he did not re- 
member that he and they had secured their election, and that the 
time for exalting virtue and reiterating promises had gone by. 
Whether he was in earnest or only more audacious than them- 
selves in insincerity, they were at first doubtful ; but if he was 
not in earnest he was indiscreet, and if he was in earnest, he 
would have to be fought and put down, or their schemes of self- 



34 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

aggrandizement would be balked. They were dazed, but they 
were determined not to yield without a struggle. The nation has 
since witnessed a similar condition on a larger stage. The aston- 
ishment of the hitherto controlling forces of the Republican party 
of South Carolina, when Governor Chamberlain discovered to 
them that he meant to attempt to conduct his administration in 
fidelity to his and their public pledges, was not unlike the aston- 
ishment with which a large portion of the Democratic party re- 
ceived the post-election deliverances of Grover Cleveland regard- 
ing reform in the civil service, and his early efforts to make them 
good. 

The succeeding pages are, in large part, the record of a strug- 
gle of which this Address was the signal, a struggle which in 
fierceness, obstinacy, and dramatic intensity is scarcely rivalled 
by any other that has occurred in this country of ours, between 
the honorable and the selfish elements comprised in one party, 
between wise statesmanship and unwise politics. 

The following extracts from journals which had not been 
favorable to the election of Governor Chamberlain, show how 
strongly his first ofificial utterance affected the opinions of intel- 
ligent observers who had despaired of securing good government 
for South Carolina through the Republican party there. 

[From the Charleston (S. C.) Neivs and Courier, December ii, 1874.] 
The tone of every newspaper in the country, from Maine to California must be 
most encouraging to Governor Chamberlain. Every one of them takes him warmly 
by the hand, warns him of the task he has undertaken, urges him to stand unflinch- 
ingly by his purpose against all and every kind of opposition. There have been 
many governors elected in greater States than South Carolina during the past year, 
but no public expression has attracted so much comment and attention as the 
inaugural address of the Governor. This is a most remarkable uprising of the na- 
tional sentiment in support of the Governor. It means just this : that the whole 
American press, representing the invincible genius of the republic, proposes to stand 
behind him like a giant, with his arm bared to strike down any opposition that 
attempts to weaken his hand, or wrench its grasp from the helm of this State, so 
long as it is true to the cause of the people. Mr. Chamberlain has placed his foot 
upon the rock of a living principle, with the eye of a great nation full upon him, and 
the light of a great future breaking all around him. He holds in his hand the 
heart of an heroic State, and upon his steady nerve depends the hope of a splendid 
national organization. The road he must travel will be hedged about with difficulty 
and danger and responsibility, but if he be faithful to his trust, the divinity of a 
high purpose will brush these things like a chaff from his path, and crown him with 



A DMINIS TKA TION. 35 

the gratitude of the nation. We have an abiding faith — the faith of experience and 
hope — that in carrying out the letter and spirit of his inaugural, the Governor will 
not flinch nor be moved the breadth of a hair. He will find a strength, not his own, 
that, if need be, will sustain him in vindicating the rights and interests of the poor 
people of this State. 

[From another issue of the same journal.] 
So long as he walks on the line that he has marked out for himself he will have 
the active support of the Conservative members of the General Assembly, and like- 
wise the moral support, the aid and the comfort of the sixty thousand Conservatives 
whom those members represent. What the people want — and all that they want — 
is the honest and economical administration which Governor Chamberlain has under- 
taken to give them ; and they will not, by any display of distrust, or by any recal- 
citrancy of conduct, add to the difficulties which he must encounter, who is resolved 
to restore to South Carolina that high public character and public credit which in 
other days were the pride and boast of her people. 

[From the Florence (S. C.) Pioneer.'\ 
The inaugural address was an able one, and if Mr. Chamberlain will carry out 
the policy for reform which he therein promises, and is backed by the Legislature, 
the good people of our State will be most agreeably disappointed, and will support 
him in his administration. 

[From the Aiken (S. C.) Ccmrier-Journal .\ 
We like the ring of Governor Chamberlain's inaugural message, and hope he will 
be able to carry out his programme to the letter, but knowing as we do many of his 
assistants and surroundings, and judging the others from these, we are of the 
opinion that they would clog the wheels of the governmental chariot, if drawn by 
the Archangel Gabriel himself. 

[From the Anderson (S. C.) Cotiservator.'\ 
It will be well for Mr. Chamberlain to understand at once, the success of his 
administration depends upon his identifying himself with the people and not with a 
few leaders, and that unless he exercises the functions of his high office, which he has 
received from the people, for their benefit, in correcting the abuses and corruptions 
which exist in all the departments of the government, his culture, learning, ability, 
and ambition will not save him from the fate of Scott and Moses. 

[From the Greenville (S. C.) News.'\ 
In many respects the Governor's message is full of good advice, and we hope the 
present Legislature will see to it, that much that he recommends will be carried into 
practical execution by appropriate and necessary enactment. Economy and retrench- 
ment should be the guarding [sic] policy in every thing. We are pleased to realize that 
Mr. Chamberlain has taken such high position, and as the News has said before, 
we intend to support him in all his efforts to give us a good government. 

[From Harper s Weekly, December ii, 1874.] 
Governor Chamberlain's inaugural address is clearly the work of an able and 
sagacious man ; and should it prove to be the scheme of his official action, every 
honest and intelligent citizen of South Carolina will be satisfied. . . . 



3<J GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

It seems incredible that these should be the words of the successor of Moses, 
elected by the same party. They are full of good cheer, and we do not wonder that 
the inaugural address is considered to be able and statesmanlike, and that the " tax- 
payers " see the hope of good government and prosperity in the Governor's address. 
They must remember, however, that his task is most difficult, and that its successful 
accomplishment depends very much upon their hearty co-operation, not only by votes 
in the Legislature, but by sympathy and support in their newspapers. The just com- 
plaint of good citizens in this part of the country is that men of the class known as 
tax-payers have held contemptuously aloof from the work of government in the 
Southern States, and while constantly appealing for sympathy on the ground that 
they were the substantial and intelligent citizens, have made the worst instead of the 
best of the situation. They concede the ability of Governor Chamberlain. They 
have no right to distrust his sincerity until he gives them reason, which those who 
know him best have no fear that he will do. There is now a chance for South Caro- 
lina ; and Governor Chamberlain, in fulfilling his promise, will prove whether the 
tax-])ayers really wish the advantage of the State, or merely the possession of power. 

[From The New V'ork Nation, December lo, 1S74.] 
Mr. Chamberlain, the new Governor of South Carolina, delivered his inaugural 
address to the Legislature of that State last week, and it appears to have given great 
satisfaction to sound men of all parties. If he lives up to its promises and professions, 
and can get the Legislature to do so, he will prove the means of rescuing the State, and 
will be fairly entitled to a statue. The address is both able and interesting, but his 
descriptions of the abuses which have to be remedied are sometimes very amusing for 
the illustration they afford of the manners and morals of the class which has had 
charge of the State government since 1868. . . . What Mr. Chamberlain 
says about tlie public debt is probably what will most interest the outside 
world, and it is substantially this : that the Act of the last Assembly by which the 
State committed bankruptcy, and offered to compound with its creditors by giving 
new bonds for fifty per cent, of the par value of certain bonds, stocks, and coupons 
which the State was unable to pay, amounting in all to $11,480,033, and repudiat- 
ing totally the "conversion bonds " put on the market by Kimpton, was a good 
settlement, and ought to h(t carried out. The new bonds are to be secured by the 
appropriation, for the payment of the principal and interest, of a tax of two mills 
on the dollar on the actual taxable property of the State, which is to be considered 
a contract between the State and its creditors. As no future increase of the State 
debt can be made under the existing Constitution without the approval of two thirds of 
the voters voting at a general State election, we dare say everybody but the holders of 
the conversion bonds will be satisfied with this arrangement ; but no civilized com- 
munity ought to make such a proposal on such a state of facts without having pre- 
viously committed to the penitentiary for a term of years, as part and parcel of the 
transaction, one or more of its financiers ; and, in this case, we have no hesitation 
in designating Scott, Parker, and Kimpton as persons from among whom the selec- 
tion for this sacrifice ought to be made. In the meantime, we wish Mr. Chamberlain 
success and tenacity. 

[From the Philadelphia Ledger.^ 

News of an honest and economical administration of the State Government of 
South Carolina is good news indeed. Governor Chamberlain, who has just been 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



37 



elected, was inaugurated on Tuesday, and his address, when one remembers that it 
comes from the candidate of the combination who have so long plundered that State, 
is of a most promising character. The South Carolina politicians, if the new Govern- 
or properly represents them, are to turn over a new leaf. The tax-payers of South 
Carolina, judging by the telegrams thence, seem to be much encouraged by the pros- 
pect of reform, and it is to be hoped the Governor will carry out the policy laid down. 
South Carolina sadly needs it. 




CHAPTER IV. 

The Governor and the Legislature — Tlie First Conflict — He Defeats the Election 
of an Unfit Judge by the Legislature — Reluctant Approval of an Appropriation 
Bill — Message to the Legislature on the Subject — An Interesting Letter of Pro- 
fessor C. P. Pelham. 



THOSE of the Republican party in the Legislature, a major- 
ity in party caucuses, who disapproved of the positive 
reform policy recommended by the Governor, made little public 
talk of the matter ; but they were none the less resolved not to 
aid the " new departure " in any way that would be an acknowl- 
edgment on their part of previous wrong-doing. Unfortunately, 
ever since the freedmen had become citizens and politicians they 
had not wanted for leaders who suffered without rebuke, when 
they did not sanction and encourage, the disposition to make full 
use of power for personal advantage. Never having been trained 
in the exercise of responsibility, to them freedom and authority 
meant opportunity rather than duty, and they were incredulous 
regarding the motive of a magistrate who recommended an econ- 
omy that would supply no perquisites, and set up standards 
of public service which would thwart the ambitions of some of 
the most active men in his party. In their view such aims were 
absurd, and they were confident of their ability to defeat any at- 
tempt to give them effect in tlie actual conduct of the State's 
affairs. 

The first trial came soon. The occasion was the election by 
the Legislature of a judge to fill a vacancy in the Charleston 
circuit. The candidates for the office were W. J. Whipper, a 
shrewd, unscrupulous, negro politician, a lawyer, forsooth, but 
having neither the professional attainments nor the virtues of 
character suitable for a judicial office, who was regularly nomi- 
nated by the Republican majority of the Legislature ; Elihu C. 

38 



ADMINISTRATION. 39 

Baker, a lawyer from Massachusetts, who had been in the State 
but a short time, whose fitness in other particulars was not con- 
spicuous, but who was supported by the few Republicans dis- 
satisfied with Whipper; and Jacob P. Reed, a native of the State, 
a lawyer of good standing, and a reputable citizen. In accord- 
ance with a singular custom then prevailing, the candidates were 
invited and expected to attend a public meeting, or caucus, of 
members of the Legislature, to make addresses in their own 
behalf, and friends of the several candidates were expected to 
speak in behalf of their favorites. Seeing no other way of break- 
ing the solid line of the misguided members of the Legislature 
arrayed in support of Whipper, Governor Chamberlain, against 
the strenuous advice of nearly all his friends, resolved to attend 
the meeting and state plainly his opinion of the candidates, 
especially of Whipper. It was an unprecedented proceeding ; 
but it was the only way open to prevent a scandal upon the fame 
of the courts of South Carolina. 

The account of the proceedings on this occasion which the 
correspondent of the Charleston Nezvs and Courier sent to that 
journal shows that the caucus, in the beginning, was an hilarious 
assembly. A band of music contributed to the enjoyment, and, 
apparently, the majority were so well assured of success that they 
thought they could afford to make merry as if the occasion had 
no serious significance. Mr. Whipper's address was a. combina- 
tion of story-telling, free-and-easy self-laudation, and denunciation 
of the Governor ; Mr. Reed spoke briefly and modestly ; Mr. 
Baker made a long oration. The Governor then addressed the 
assembly. His remarks and the subsequent proceedings, as re- 
ported by the same correspondent, were as follows : 

He said he desired, if possible, to divest himself of the influence of 
Governor, and to appear as a private citizen to discuss the questions 
under consideration. He felt now, as he had never felt before, the re- 
sponsibilities of his position and of his party. The eyes of the entire 
State and nation were upon them, and he had laid aside every consid- 
eration to come here to speak in behalf of the common welfare of the 
State. He disclaimed any desire to use any influence that did not 
belong to him as a simple member of the Republican party. The only 
fear that he entertained was whether he had the courage to do his duty. 
That duty was an unpleasant one, but it must be discharged. 

In the selection of a Judge of the First Circuit a man must be selected 



40 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

whose character is above suspicion. [Applause.] If the whole field 
were open, and the circumstances were such that he could select, from 
the educated men of the State, a candidate of ability and character and 
learning, he was free to say that his choice would not fall upon any of 
the three candidates named to-night. But he now proposed only to 
discuss the merits of the three candidates named, and to inquire which 
one of them came the nearest to the qualifications of a judge. There 
were three qualifications to be considered. First, the candidate must 
be a Republican ; second, he must be a man of ability, qualified to fill 
the position ; and third, his character and integrity must be above sus- 
picion. Here some one in the hall groaned very audibly, and there 
was a general laugh. Without heeding the interruption, the Governor 
went on to say that it was injustice to the Republican party to suppose 
that they could do any thing merely because of their numerical majority. 
They had seen a majority of forty thousand dwindle down to ten thou- 
sand in the last campaign under the pressure of just such mistakes. 
They had no right, under any circumstances or under any political 
pressure, to impose upon any community in this State a man to admin- 
ister the laws whose character and reputation do not entitle him to the 
full confidence of every man, woman, and child in the community. 

He then compared the qualifications of the three candidates. He 
was opposed to the election of General Whipper or of Mr. Baker to that 
position, and it was his opinion that, of the three candidates named, the 
one who best met the requirements of the position was Col. Reed. At 
this stage there was a demonstration on the part of the Whipperites. 
Green, of Beaufort, arose and asked the Governor if he was in favor of 
selecting "eleventh-hour Republicans " to elect to office, which made a 
very marked sensation and elicited unmistakable applause from the 
crowd. This encouraged Jones, of Georgetown, who also propounded 
a question. He wanted to know if Mr. Reed was not one of those 
whom Mr. Chamberlain fought so hard against in the Ku-Klux 
trials. 

The Governor replied that, to his personal knowledge, Mr. Reed 
was not only not connected in any way, but had no sympathy, with the 
Ku-Klux, and that he had a great deal more respect for a Republican 
who only turned over once than for one who had made a dozen somer- 
saults. He was prepared both to trust and to indorse Mr. Reed. It 
was always an event when such men as Orr, Green, Townsend, Maher, 
Melton, announced themselves members of the Republican party. It 
gave strength to the party. The accession of such men was the 
strength and hope of the party in the future. He did not question 
Whipper's republicanism, but in point of ability and legal learning he 
was not equal to the position. The Republican party had no right, by 
reason of its numerical strength, to pick up any and every man and put 
him to discharge the duties of judge in a great commercial metropolis. 
As to the integrity of Whipper, there were some matters connected with 
his association with the Sinking Fund Commission that required ex- 
planation. 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 4 ^ 

This assertion produced a marked sensation. Whipper arose, and 
in a violent harangue denounced the attack on him as low, base, and 
cowardly, at which his supporters applauded lustily. 

Order being restored, the Governor went on to say that this was the 
most important judicial position in the State, next to the Chief Justice- 
ship and it should be filled with the best talent and character that the 
party could command. He regarded Mr. Reed as the best. He stood 
here because the Republican party in South Carolina was gone unless 
they stood up to their promises. This was the first opportunity they 
had to translate their professions of reform into action. 

At the close of the Governor's speech Whipper took the stand and 
made a violent onslaught upon the Administration. He said the time 
for dictation from the Governor had passed. [Tremendous applause.J 
The attack on him was base and cowardly. It passed the bounds of 
decency. If he had defrauded the State, why did not the Governor of 
the State, who was on the Board, and who was then Attorney General, 
bring him to punishment ? [Applause and yells from the crowd.] He 
would only say in conclusion that he defied all of them to prove that he 
(Whipper) owed the State a single dollar. 

He was in turn followed by Green and W. H. Jones, both of whom 
attacked the Governor. By this time (ten o'clock) the crowd began to 
show decided symptoms of a riot, and m.ost of the outsiders left the 
hall. The caucus then adjourned, and the members took their de- 
parture. 

The issue of this extraordinary and daring proceeding was 
announced in the following despatch to the Nezvs and Courier : 

Columbia, S. C, December nth.— This has been an exciting day, but it ends in 
the complete triumph of the Chamberlain Administration over the Whipper and 
Whittemore factions of the Republican party. 

Early in the morning the prospect was that the Hon. J. P. Reed, the administra- 
tion candidate, would be entirely out of the race, and there was some thought of 
bringing out a new man in the event that Whipper was not elected on the first ballot. 
Whipper's friends made a square issue on the question of color and of opposition to 
Chamberlain, and at i o'clock they counted on 89 votes, which are more than a 
majority on joint ballot. As soon, however, as the Conservatives saw that the Ad- 
ministration was attacked, and in danger of defeat, they rallied to the support of 
Colonel Reed, and their votes decided the election against Whipper. 

The two houses met in joint assembly as agreed, and J. P. Reed, W. J. Whipper 
(colored), and Elihu C. Baker were nominated in short speeches. The first ballot 
was then had, and when the last name on the roll was called the vote stood Reed 73, 
Whipper 56, Baker 18, scattering 9 ; necessary to a choice, 79. Joe Crews (Rep.) 
changed his vote from Baker to Reed, and his example was followed by many 
others. The result of the ballot was then announced as follows : Reed 103, Whipper 
40, Baker 10, scattering 3. The Charleston delegation cast every one of their 
twenty votes for Reed. 



42 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The Charleston News mid Courier in its editorial comment on 

this result said : 

For the victory that was won the people must thank Governor Chamberlain, as 
well as the minority in the Legislature. The Conservatives felt that some lawyer of 
high standing at the Charleston Bar should have been raised to the bench ; that judi- 
cial election should not be made a question of party politics. But they could not elect 
such a candidate as would have been their first choice ; and it was the part of wisdom 
to vote for the one candidate, of those who could be elected, who had most to 
recommend him. Tkat was their plain duty to their constituents, and they did it. 
Governor Chamberlain, in public and in private, fought against the election of Baker 
and Whipper. Neither persuasion nor menace served to drive him from the position 
he had deliberately taken. The first fight which the Chamberlain Administration has 
made is won, and there is not an honest man in South Carolina who has not to-day 
a far better and a far higher opinion of Governor Chamberlain than he had a week 
ago. In one striking instance the word has ripened into action. 

The effect of this action did not cease with the occasion. Not 
long afterwards there was a vacancy to be filled b}" the Legisla- 
ture in the office of Judge of the Third Circuit. The notorious 
ex-Governor F. J. Moses presented himself as a candidate. He 
received the support of those who had supported Mr. Whipper; 
but the reform Republicans supported Mr. Northrop, whose qual- 
ifications and character Avere unobjectionable. The Democrats 
supported Major Shaw, a lawyer and soldier, who had served in 
the Confederate army. The fifth ballot stood : Northrop, 42 ; 
Shaw, 42 ; Moses, 36, and several scattering — 79 being necessary 
to a choice. The Democrats in succeeding ballots transferred 
votes to Northrop until it appeared that he would be elected. 
Then the supporters of Moses, in revenge, transferred their votes 
to Shaw, and Shaw's original supporters returned, so that when 
the result was announced Shaw was elected. Thus again was an 
honest and capable man chosen, instead of one of the worst men 
in the State. 

The first appropriation bill passed during Governor Cham- 
berlain's Administration reached him on the 21st of December 
1874, the day before the usual adjournment of the Legislature 
for the Christmas holidays. It was far from satisfactory to him ; 
but so many interests were afTected by it, so much suffering 
would result from the necessary delay in passing another bill, 
that he reluctantly signed it, sending to the Legislature the fol- 
lowing Message : 



ADMINISTKA TION. 



43 



Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, December 22, 1874. 
Gentlemen of the Senate afid House of Representatives : 

I have this day approved the following Act : 

"An Act to make appropriation for the payment of the salary 
and mileage of the members of the General Assembly and the sal- 
aries of the subordinate officers and employes and other expenses in- 
cidental thereto." 

In affixing my official approval to this Act, I feel compelled to state 
to your honorable bodies that I have had grave doubts respecting my 
duty in the premises. The mode in which the Act was finally passed, 
under the operation of the joint rules of the two houses, is suggestive 
of more than one difficulty of a legal and constitutional nature. The 
Act in its present form has been distinctly and decisively disap- 
proved by one house. Its final passage is due wholly to a joint rule 
of the General Assembly. I cannot at the present time enter upon a 
discussion of the legal effect of this fact, but it is easy to see how 
grave are the questions involved, and with what facility such a rule 
may be used to defeat the will of one or the other house of the Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

Again, whoever will inform himself upon the subject will be satis- 
fied that the tax of one mill on the dollar, levied to meet appropria- 
tions for legislative expenses for the present fiscal year, cannot pro- 
duce more than $110,000 or $115,000. The amount appropriated byi 
the Act is, therefore, in excess of the means provided to meet the ap-\ 
propriation, and one of the prime requisites of good administration is \ 
thus early set aside. 

Again, the old evil of appropriating a gross amount to meet contin- 
gent or incidental expenses re-appears. There are, so far as i am 
able to judge, no expenses of the General Assembly which are prop- 
erly contingent. Every item of legitimate expenditures is capable of 
being ascertained in dollars and cents, and no occasion exists for 
making an appropriation in advance of a knowledge of the exact 
amount heeded to meet such expenses. 

Lastly, in the mode of payment provided in sections 2 and 3 of 
the Act, the proper safeguards, in my judgment, are omitted. What I 
deem these to be, I have indicated in my Inaugural Address before 
your honorable bodies. I greatly regret, in the interest of good ad- 
ministration, that your honorable bodies have not provided a mode of 
payment which is, in my judgment, conformable to a sound and safe 
practice. 

Having thus briefly pointed out the features of this Act which 
seem to me objectionable, I acknowledge with gratitude the many feat- 
ures of the Act which stamp it with an honorable superiority over our 
recent Appropriation Acts. Called upon, as I am, to act in view of 
what is practicable and attainable, with only a brief time in which to 
reflect upon my duty, unless I subject the members of your honorable 
bodies to serious personal inconvenience, and especially in view of 



Ui,'^ 



44 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the very great improvement in this Act upon former similar Acts, I 
have reluctantly decided to give the Act my official sanction. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

The following graphic letter, written not long after the events 
recorded in this chapter, and addressed to a friend in Augusta, 
Ga., reveals how the Governor's course, thus far, had affected an 
influential class of citizens not heretofore disposed to believe that 
any Republican could possess the virtues held in honor by South 
Carolinians. The writer, Col. Pclham, was formerly a professor 
in the South Carolina University at Columbia, was for many years 
a well-known editorial writer, and at the time of these events 
was the editor of the Columbia Daily Phcenix. He was ever 
an ardent South Carolinian and Democrat, and was distinguished 
as a gentleman of fine tastes and high culture. 

Columbia, Feb. 3, 1875. 
Dear Colonel : 

The old State is passing through a new phase of ex- 
perience. I do not know where it will land us. . . . At any rate, 
Chamberlain interests us all. I had no faith in him when he was 
elected. He seemed to us capable of doing more injury than his " pals," 
and not really disposed to do more good. He made fair promises 
when he took office. Some of our best people were quite taken by 
his words and manner. Of course we always admitted his unusual 
abili^^. He is in fact a remarkable man in this respect, — a fine orator, 
scholar, and lawyer — leads an irreproachable private life, and has evi- 
dently, as he always has had, as little as possible to do with his party. 
I am compelled to say I have changed my views of him, 
but I shall wait a good while yet before I believe in him. . , . One 
incident I will relate. He went into office the first of December last. 
Following right after his brave words, the " niggers and scalawags " 
passed a legislative appropriation bill which was only a trifle better 
than those of Scott's and Moses' days. Chamberlain approved it, but 
sent in a message which virtually said that he ought to have vetoed it. 
I believed, and so said at the time in the Phcenix, that this was due to 
cowardice. Chamberlain said in private that it was not good policy to 
make the fight on matters that were even a small improvement on the 
past, but I gave him no credit for sincerity. 

Last month' a judge was to be elected for the Charleston circuit. 
Whipper, the blackest rascal and the most rascally black in the State, 
set himself up as a candidate. The " nigger" Soions met in caucus to 

' That the occasion seemed less distant than it was in fact evidences the vivid- 
ness of the impression produced. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 45 

endorse Whipper. Following their custom, they invited Chamberlain 
as Governor to the caucus. I attended to see the fun. To the surprise 
of nearly all Chamberlain came, though Sam. Melton had told a few 
of us that he was going to come and oppose Whipper. Trescot and a 
knot of us were in the hall. Chamberlain came m quietly and sat 
down in the rear of the hall, quite out of sight. I watched him closely. 
Whipper was on the stage haranguing his followers, and espying 
Chamberlain he launched into a fierce attack on him as a Caesar who 
wished to break down the party etc., and elect a white man. The 
moment Chamberlain heard this, he rose coolly from his seat and 
walked down the aisle, in sight of all, and took a seat directly m front 
of Whipper who went on with the bitterest denunciations, and wound 
up by daring him to come on the platform and face those who had 
elected him. For one I did not imagine Chamberlain^ would open his 
mouth It looked like something worse than a "forlorn hope." 
Smalls who presided, followed up Whipper by mvitmg His Excel- 
lency," in tones meant to be sarcastic, to address the caucus. This 
looked like " rubbing it in " ! 

Chamberlain calmly arose and stepped upon the stage. 1 he negroes 
were apparently stunned at his audacity. He began by speaking of the 
importance of the office of judge for Charleston and the proper qualifi- 
cations of a candidate. He said there were three candidates, ^^ hipper 
Baker and Reed. Whipper, he said, was totally unfit m character and 
attainments. These words fairly cowed his hearers. Whipper, how- 
ever, rose pale, if blackness can be pale, with rage, and advancing 
towards the stage demanded to know on what ground the Governor at- 
tacked his character. " On the ground," replied Chamberlain, that 
you have embezzled three thousand dollars of the sinking fund, for 
one thing " And then waving him off, he proceeded to go over Whip- 
per's career without mercy. The burly carcass of Smalls shrank ^ his 
seat ; the negroes were dazed, but no one dared to interrupt him again, 
and an adjournment was carried as soon as he finished. I said then, 
as I say now, it was the finest specimen of intellectual, if not moral, 
■ courage and address I have ever seen. You know the result. It turned 
the scale Whipper was defeated and Reed elected. Most of the 
negroes voted for Whipper, but the Governor held enough, with the 
Democrats, to carry the election. Our fear was that the speech had 
so maddened the negroes as to make Whipper's election certain. 1 res- 
cot said to Chamberlain, after his speech, " Cest magnifiqzie, mats ce 
n'est pas la guerre "y but it was war and victory too. 

Since that night I have a different idea of Chamberlain, though 
I trust him yet only so far as he goes and does well. ... But that 
he is not " afeard " I now admit. . . . 

Yours truly, 

C. P. PELHAM. 




CHAPTER V. 

Governor Chamberlain's Message to the Legislature Supplementary to His Inaugural 
Address — Full Review of the Condition of the Departments of Administration — 
— Explicit Recommendation of Radical Reform Measures — Public Duty before 
Party — Approving Comments of the South Carolina Press. 



THE reassembling of the Legislature after the recess was on 
January 3, 1875. A few days later, Governor Chamberlain 
sent to it a Message which embraced information in detail, pre- 
sented with care and exactness, supplementary to his Inaugural 
Address. He recognized that in the work of reform he had set 
himself to attempt, the intelligent co-operation of the Legislature 
would be necessary. To secure such co-operation it was important 
that its members should be informed of the actual condition of 
the State's affairs, and of his understanding of the gravity of 
existing evils, as well as of the means of restoring soundness and 
honor. 

It may appear to persons whose lives have been passed in 
communities where the citizens " from their youth up " are in- 
structed in public affairs and the law-makers are fairly repre- 
sentative of the best intelligence, that Governor Chamberlain, 
in his communications to the Legislature, assumed somewhat the 
tone of a mentor ; but if the circumstances are duly considered 
it will be recognized that he assumed in this regard no more than 
was justifiable and sagacious. The majority of those whose aid he 
hoped to win had but brief experience in the rights and obliga- 
tions even of private citizenship, and had been advanced to the 
duties and responsibilities of public office while they were im- 
mature in freedom and untrained in civic virtues. Moreover, 
they had been misdirected at the start, their aims perverted and 
their motives debauched, by vicious examples. Therefore Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain's task was to instruct by exposition and pre- 

46 



ADAIINISTRA TION. 4/ 

cept as well as by suggestion and example. He had to demon- 
strate the mistakes of the past to the apprehension of those Avho 
were in a degree responsible for them, and had made money by 
them. He had to create in his associates of his own party that 
ideal of patriotic duty which enables men to suppress the in- 
stincts of selfishness, and put aside the temptations of personal 
interest. It will hardly be disputed that the conditions demanded 
extraordinar}^ wisdom and tact, thorough mastery of facts, high 
courage, and undespairing patience. The Message of January 
12, 1875, is here given. 



Executive Department, 
Columbia, S. C, January 12, 1875. 

Gentle?nen of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

In the Inaugural Address which I had the honor to deliver before 
the General Assembly, I stated that, '' owing to the want of the informa- 
tion to be obtained from the Reports of the various officers in charge 
of the several departments of the Government and the public institu- 
tions," it would become my duty at a subsequent time to present to 
you some additional information and recommendations concerning 
several important interests of the State. 

In accordance with that announcement, and in the discharge of the 
duty imposed upon the Governor by the Constitution, " from time to 
time to give to the General Assembly information of the condition of 
the State, and to recommend to their consideration such measures as 
he shall judge necessary or expedient," I call attention to the serious 
public inconvenience resulting from the delay on the part of the officers 
from whom annual Reports are required in furnishing the same. Even 
at this late day, nearly two months and a half after the close of the 
last fiscal year, and seven weeks after the annual meeting of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, I have barely been able to obtain several of the most 
important Reports in time to make a brief and imperfect examination 
of their contents. My public duty will, perhaps, be discharged by 
calling your attention to the great detriment thereby occasioned to the 
public service. If such delays arise from causes beyond the control of 
our public officers, then, if possible, the General Assembly should re- 
move those causes ; but if they arise from other causes, a remedy ought 
to be devised and applied. 

STATE treasurer's REPORT. 

The Report of the State Treasurer will, I think, be found to be a lu- 
minous and complete exhibit of the operations of that department. The 
observations of the State Treasurer upon the several matters discussed 
in his Report will likewise deserve your careful consideration. 



48 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 



APPROPRIATIONS AND RECEIPTS. 



I desire especially to call attention to the prime importance, as urged 
by the State Treasurer, of keeping the appropriations Avithin the receipts. 
This is manifest without argument. All proper deductions should be 
made from the gross amount of the taxes to be levied, and a rigid 
estimate, based upon the results of former levies, should be reached 
before the rate of taxation is fixed. After this has been done, the 
appropriations from the proceeds of the levies made should never be 
allowed to exceed, by a single dollar, the estimate of the amount of 
such proceeds. As the State Treasurer justly remarks : " This is abso- 
lutely essential to the restoration of the credit of the State . . . 
and the success and prosperity of our public institutions." 

In this connection, I call attention to the statement on page 12 
of the Comptroller General's Report of the total taxable property of the 
State under the recent assessment, and the amounts to be realized 
therefrom under the specific levies made by the "Act to raise supplies 
for the fiscal year commencing November i, 1874." I am confident 
the estimates there made are the highest limits which will be reached 
under those levies. If this be so, it is absolutely necessary that the 
appropriations to be made at the present session should in no instance 
exceed the amounts there specified. One palpable departure from 
this rule has already occurred in the legislative appropriation bill passed 
at the present session, and I trust no other similar departures will re- 
ceive the sanction of the General Assembly. 

In this connection I call attention to the " estimate of supplies for 
the support of the State government," at page 10 1 of the Comptroller 
General's Report. The whole amount required, according to that esti- 
mate, for "salaries and contingent funds," is no less than $212,450; 
whereas at page 12, of the same report, the whole amount to be realized 
from the levy made for the same purpose is only $150,476.51. If this 
estimate, therefore, is made the basis of the appropriations, there will 
be a deficiency of $61,973.49. It is manifest that such a result must 
be avoided, and I point it out in order that it may receive the attention 
which it demands. 

OVERDRAWN WARRANTS AND DRAFTS. 

I concur especially in the views expressed by the State Treasurer 
upon the evil and unjust practice which has prevailed of drawing war- 
rants or drafts on the State Treasurer in excess of the appropriations 
from which they are payable. I think this evil should be checked by 
immediate legislation. Towards those who, in good faith, accept such 
overdrafts in payment of dues from the State, such a practice may be 
properly denounced as fraudulent. 

COMPTROLLER GENERAL's REPORT. 

The Report of the Comptroller General presents a well arranged 
mass of information, which will deserve the consideration of the Gen- 
eral Assembly. 



ADMINISTRATION. 49 

I call the attention of the General Assembly to two statements, at 
page 12, of " the total taxable property of the State," namely, $141,624,- 
952. The corresponding amount under the former assessment was 
$176,956,502.74. I also call attention, with approval, to the observa- 
tions of the Comptroller General, at pages 13 and 14, respecting a 
change in the time of the year when property should be listed, the 
necessity of a revision of the present general tax Act, and additional 
legislation in regard to forfeited lands. 

DELINQUENT COUNTY TREASURERS. 

I call special attention to the fact, as stated by the Comptroller 
General at page 15, that the sum of 1(470,090.20 remains charged against 
County Treasurers on the books of his office ; that amount being about 
15 per cent, of all State taxes collected since 1868. While only a part, 
possibly a small part, of that sum is actually due to the State, yet no 
reason of which I am aware exists why this entire sum should not at 
once be "accounted for." I therefore join with the Comptroller Gen- 
eral in asking that " stringent laws providing severe and prompt punish- 
ment " be enacted to prevent such results in the future, and also that 
the Attorney General and solicitors be directed to use all existing legal 
means to compel an immediate settlement of all unsettled accounts of 
County Treasurers, and the recovery of the amounts found due, by suits, 
if necessary, against the sureties. 

CLAIMS OF THOMAS W. PRICE COMPANY. 

The Comptroller General has called the attention of the General 
Assembly to the character of the claims of the Thomas W. Price Com- 
pany, of Philadelphia, for books and blanks furnished for the use of 
County Auditors and Treasurers for receiving the returns and assessing 
and collecting the State and county taxes. There is also an unpaid 
claim of the same Company on account of work done for the Superin- 
tendent of Education, as stated at page 24 of that officer's report for 
1873, amounting to $4,539-35, which is equally meritorious. The work 
of this Company was superior in quality, was done at the lowest prices, 
and under circumstances which entitle the company to our grateful 
consideration. I transmit, herewith, copies of the correspondence 
relating to this matter, and I trust that the General Assembly will not 
fail to give it prompt attention. 

BONDS OF COUNTY AUDITORS AND TREASURERS. 

I transmit with this Message copies of a circular letter issued by the 
Comptroller General and approved by the Governor, fixing the amounts 
of the bonds of County Auditors, and also requiring all County Treas- 
urers now in office to comply within thirty days with the requirements of 
law respecting their official bonds. The Governor is authorized to fix 
the amounts of the bonds of County Auditors, and I have endeavored to 
exercise this power in a manner which will secure the public interests. 



50 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 



OBSOLETE ACCOUNTS. 



The Comptroller General, at page i8 of his Report, calls attention 
to the fact that the books of his office — and the same is true of the 
books of the Treasurer's office — are burdened with certain accounts 
which are really obsolete, representing values which do not now exist. 
These accounts must be annually carried forward until authority is 
given to the Comptroller General and the Treasurer to close them. For 
obvious reasons, as well as in accordance with numerous precedents in 
this State and elsewhere, I join with the Comptroller General in recom- 
mending that authority be given by the General Assembly to finally 
close all such accounts. 

VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

The Comptroller General has called attention to the vacancy which 
will arise on the fourth of March next in the office of Comptroller Gen- 
eral, occasioned by the election of the present incumbent as a member 
of the Forty-fourth Congress. I need not do more than to remind the 
General Assembly that it will be necessary to provide some mode of 
filling such a vacancy. 

INSURANCE DEPOSITS. 

In my Inaugural Address I ventured to say that, in my judgment, 
good policy dictated the repeal of the present laws requiring deposits 
from insurance companies not incorporated by this State. Further ex- 
amination and reflection confirm me in that opinion. The supposed 
security to policy-holders from requiring such deposits is fallacious. If 
a company is sound, there is not the least difficulty in recovering any 
loss by process of law, and if it is unsound, the fact of a deposit being 
made in this State would afford very little protection to our policy- 
holders in case of disaster to the company. It is, moreover, a serious 
legal question whether these deposits can be so sequestrated from the 
general assets of a company as* to prevent their becoming a part of the 
general fund applicable to the payment of all creditors in case of the 
insufficiency of other assets. The general effect of requiring such de- 
posits is to exclude the best companies and admit the weakest, except 
in cases where the sacrifice of withdrawing from the State overbalances 
the injury to the company by scattering its funds in the manner re- 
quired. I transmit herewith a letter addressed to me officially by an 
eminent insurance authority, in which the whole matter is discussed in 
a most clear and conclusive manner. I hereby renew my former recom- 
mendations of a repeal of the present laws on this subject, in order to 
allow free competition in this branch of business, under such restric- 
tions only as have regard to the general character and strength of the 
several companies. 

EXTENSION OF TIME FOR COLLECTION OF TAXES. 

In connection with the Comptroller General's Report, I desire to 
correct a misapprehension now widely prevailing as to the power of the 



ADMINISTRA TION. 5 I 

Governor and Comptroller General in extending the time for the col- 
lection of taxes. 

In the Tax Act of 1868, in Section 147, authority was given to the 
State Auditor, with the approval of the Governor, to extend the time 
for the performance of the duties required of any officer by that Act. 
It is more than doubtful whether this provision ever gave power to the 
Governor and State Auditor to extend the time for the collection of 
taxes. However that may be, that section was repealed by the Act of 
March 8, 1871 (vol. 14, Statutes at Large, p. 622). No similar power 
was again conferred on any officer until the passage of the Act of Feb- 
ruary 6, 1874 (Acts of 1873-4, p. 533). The latter Act was expressly 
limited in its application to the fiscal year commencing November i, 
1873, ^i^d. its operation, of course, ceased with that year. 

The result is that the only power now possessed by any executive 
officer or officers to extend the time for the collection of taxes is con- 
ferred by section 139 of the Act of March 19, 1874 (Acts 1873-4, p. 
778), which is in the following words : "That whenever the General 
Assembly shall fail to make the annual levy of taxes, or the collection 
of the same may be in any way delayed, it shall be the duty of the Comp- 
troller General to notify each County Treasurer that the penalty for 
non-payment shall not attach until after the expiration of sixty days 
from the date of his public announcement of his readiness to collect 
the said taxes." 

Under this section the Governor has no power to act, and the 
power of the Comptroller General is limited to cases of delay in 
commencing the collection of taxes at the regular time. I call special 
attention to this statement of the law in order to relieve myself of the 
frequent and urgent applications made to me for my action in post- 
poning the collection of taxes. If any further legislation on the sub- 
ject is needed, it will be the duty of the General Assembly to provide it. 

THE LUNATIC ASYLUM. 

The Comptroller General's Report covers that of the Superintend- 
ent of the Lunatic Asylum. This institution deserves the generous 
support of the State. In many respects its present condition is very 
satisfactory. The buildings have been greatly improved, and the 
domestic economy of the institution and the professional treatment of 
the patients are believed to be worthy of high commendation. 

It is, however, the financial condition of the institution which will 
require most serious attention. It appears that there was a debt owing 
by the institution of $55,295.55 at the close of the last fiscal year, Octo- 
ber 31, 1874. This debt results from the excess of expenditures over 
receipts for several years past. From whatever motive expenditures 
beyond the means provided for meeting them are made, the practice is 
not to be approved. No public officer, under any thing less than very 
extraordinary circumstances, can be justified in assuming to incur obli- 
gations for the public without express authority of law. 

It is proper to call attention at this point to the Act of March 17, 



52 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

1874, "to regulate the manner in which public funds shall be dis- 
bursed by public officers." This Act makes it a felony "for any pub- 
lic officer (State or county) to enter into a contract, for any purpose 
whatsoever, in a sum in excess of the tax levied or the amount ajjpro- 
priated for the accomplishment of such purpose." Hereafter, there- 
fore, no expenditures can be made in excess of the appropriation. 
The amount of tax for. the support of penal, charitable, and educa- 
tional institutions has already been fixed for the present fiscal year. 
This levy will not permit the appropriation of a single dollar for the 
payment of past indebtedness. By reference to page 12 of the Comp- 
troller General's Report the amount to be realized from this levy will 
be about $150,000. By reference to the Act making appropriations 
for the last fiscal year it will be seen that the total appropriations 
under the same head were upwards of $190,000. It is clear, therefore, 
that no appropriations can be made for the present year in excess of 
those of last year. I cannot, therefore, consent to recommend an in- 
creased appropriation for the lunatic asylum for the present fiscal year, 
unless it can be shown from what sources funds can with certainty be 
obtained to meet such increased appropriations. 1 regret to reach 
such a conclusion, for no one can have a stronger sympathy with 
this institution than I have, or a more ardent wish to increase its 
efficiency and extend its blessings. But we must not, from sympathy 
or benevolence, repeat the financial mistakes of the past. It is far 
better for every public interest to keep our expenditures rigidly within 
our receipts, than to cripple our merchants and ruin our public credit 
by contracting debts which cannot be paid, except, possibly, at some 
indefinite future time. 

I cannot give my consent to appropriations in excess of probable 
receipts, nor to expenditures in excess of appropriations. I shall ap- 
prove of the most generous treatment of the lunatic asylum consistent 
with our ability to pay our obligations when they mature, but nothing 
more. I shall speak further of the action proper to be taken, in my 
judgment, in reference to the past indebtedness of the lunatic asylum, 
as well as that of the State penitentiary, at a later point in this message. 

STATE PENITENTIARY. 

The Comptroller General's Report covers also the Report of the 
Superintendent of the Penitentiary. Here, again, the feature of the 
Report which will arrest most attention is the statement of the indebt- 
edness of this institution. The Superintendent states that the aggre- 
gate indebtedness of the institution on the 31st day of October, 1873, 
was $102,238.40. He further states that the present indebtedness is 
$87,918.39, of which $12,380 has arisen during that fiscal year. An- 
other statement is, that there is due to the guards and employes of the 
institution $15,850.31. The appropriation for the penitentiary for 
the last fiscal year was $51,500. 

These facts present a problem not easy to solve. The remarks 
already made concerning the financial condition of the lunatic asylum 



A DAI IN IS TEA TION. 5 3 

are applicable here. The levy of taxes for the present year will not 
permit an increased appropriation. One thing is evident, namely, that 
the expenditures of this institution must hereafter be kept within the 
appropriations. It is difficult to see how, without direct violation of 
the law of March 17, 1874, already referred to, an indebtedness of $12,- 
380, in excess of the appropriation, could have been contracted during 
the last iiscal year. 

I strongly urge that the immediate attention of the General Assem- 
bly be directed to the question of making the labor of the penitentiary 
available for the support, in part, of the institution. I call attention to 
the remarks of the Superintendent on this point. If the labor of the con- 
victs can be utilized within the walls of the penitentiary, this would be 
the wisest plan. Mechanical pursuits are conducted in similar institu- 
tions elsewhere with profit to the State. Such labor is advantageous in 
many ways — as a means of discipline during the imprisonment of the 
convicts ; as a means of encouraging habits of industry and the ability 
to earn an honest living when they return to freedom ; and as a means 
of reducing the public burden of their support while in confinement. 
If there are no opportunities for the utilization of this labor at present, 
I think the plan of letting out the convicts for hire, which is adopted in 
many other States, is worthy of immediate consideration. I am in- 
formed that such labor in other States can be leased at a net daily profit 
of at least twenty cents per day for each laborer. Out of an average 
number of two hundred convicts, at least one hundred able-bodied la- 
borers could be constantly furnished, and from these laborers an income 
of several thousand dollars, above all expense for their maintenance, 
might be realized. Motives of economy, as well as the good of the con- 
victs themselves, in my judgment, require that an effort be made to 
obtain employment of some kind for this class of laborers, and I earn- 
estly recommend that the attention of the General Assembly be directed 
to this subject without delay. 

NATIONAL PRISON ASSOCIATION. 

I transmit herewith a letter addressed to me officially by the Secre- 
tary of the National Prison Association; and in this connection I respect- 
fully invite attention to the truly noble work in which this Association 
is engaged. The Association proposes that the several State legislatures 
shall, if so disposed, make a small annual appropriation, which will en- 
title each State to 500 or 600 volumes of the annual " Transactions of 
the National Prison Congress." This would place the volume in the 
hands of each member of successive legislatures, officers of penal and 
reformatory institutions, public libraries and schools. 

I do not hesitate to say that such a volume, so distributed, would 
rouse an interest among our people in one of the most humane and suc- 
cessful efforts to reduce the number of our criminal classes, and to 
restore them to the walks of useful industry. 

The most distinguished statesmen, scholars, and philanthropists are 
officers and active promoters of the Association, and I recommend that 



54 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the General Assembly, if possible, make the small appropriation of 
$i,ooo, which will entitle them to the benefit of the annual publications 
of this Association. 

STATE ORPHAN ASYLUM. 

The Report of the Trustees of the State Orphan Asylum has already 
been transmitted to the General Assembly. This institution is entitled 
to adequate support, and the report of the Trustees will furnish, I think, 
the necessary information for the action of the General Assembly. 

EDUCATION OF THE DEAF, DUMB, AND BLIND. 

The institution for the education of the deaf, dumb, and blind, 
formerly located at Cedar Springs, near Spartanburg Court-House, 
was closed in September, 1873. I regard the closing of this institu- 
tion as a misfortune and reproach to our State. It was an act of edu- 
cational retrogression, and a wrong to a class of our fellow-beings and 
fellow-citizens which has peculiar claims upon our aid and sympathy. 

If the reopening, and rehabilitation of this institution can be effected 
by any means within the control of the General Assembly, consistently 
with the present condition of our financial affairs, I unhesitatingly rec- 
ommend that it be done without delay. If this cannot be done at 
once, I trust that such arrangements will be made as will secure that re- 
sult during the next fiscal year. 

QUARANTINE AT CHARLESTON. 

The Report of the Health Officer of the Port of Charleston has 
heretofore been transmitted to the General Assembly. 

I recommend to your consideration the various suggestions made in 
that report. The maintenance of an efficient quarantine department at 
the principal port of our State, and at our other seaports generally, is a 
duty of too obvious importance to need special enforcement. 

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 

The Report of the Secretary of State presents information of great 
value, covering the matters connected with the ordinary duties of that 
office, and also the land commission department, and the improvements 
upon the State house and grounds during the .past year. I call attention 
to the recommendations of the Secretary of State on page 6 of his 
Report. 

REPORT OF THE ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

I herewith transmit the Annual Report of the Adjutant and Inspec- 
tor General, with its accompanying documents and vouchers, and invite 
vour attention to the information, as well as the various recommenda- 
tions, therein contained. 

REPORT OF STATE LIBRARIAN. 

The Report of the Keeper of the State House and State Librarian 
has been heretofore transmitted to the General Assembly. 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 5 5 

REPORT OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION. 

The Report of the State Superintendent of Education is here- 
with transmitted to the General Assembly. I commend the entire 
Report to the earnest attention not only of the General Assembly, but 
of all our fellow-citizens who look to the welfare of the State. It 
presents the actual condition at this time of our common-school sys- 
tem, its progress during the past year, the causes that diminish the 
efficiency of the system, and also points out some remedies for present 
evils. It may be said, in general, that the Report shows a fair measure 
of progress during the last year. The school population of the State is 
230,102 ; the total school attendance is 104,738, an increase of 19,144 
over the school attendance of the preceding year. The number of free 
common schools in the State is now 2,353, an increase of 272 since the 
preceding report of the Superintendent. The total number of teachers 
employed is 2,627, an increase of 253 since the preceding report. The 
average number of months during which the schools were actually open 
was only five. The number of schoolhouses in the State is 2,228, an 
increase of 211 since the preceding report. The total amount of funds 
applicable to the common schools during the past year was $512,924.93, 
of which there remains as unpaid appropriations the sum of $29,779.71, 
leaving the sum of $483,145.22 as the net school revenue of the past 
year. The school expenditures for the year were $448,251.76. 

I call attention to one or two facts, which appear from these statis- 
tics, and which show how far our school system still is from the standard 
which should be aimed at. First, the total school attendance falls con- 
siderably below one half of the total school population, being about 
seventeen thirty-eighths. Second, the average period during which our 
schools are in session is only five months. Our constant aim should be 
to increase the school attendance till it embraces all our school popula- 
tion, and to increase the length of time during which our schools should 
be in session to eight or nine months in the year. The State Superin- 
tendent calls especial attention to the incapacity of many of the teachers 
employed. I agree with him in the fact stated, and in his suggestion of 
the cause of that fact. The blame rests with the Boards of County 
School Examiners, whose duty it is to examine all teachers. These 
boards consist in each county of the County School Commissioner and 
two persons selected by the County School Commissioner. I recom- 
mend most earnestly that the appointment of the latter examiners be 
given to the State Superintendent of Education. I do not wish to be 
understood as reflecting upon all our County School Commissioners by 
this recommendation, but in view of undeniable facts as to the incapa- 
city of some of these officers, I am persuaded that the mode of appoint- 
ing the examiners should be immediately changed. That being done, 
I think this primary cause of inefficiency in our school system — the in- 
competency of teachers — will be almost entirely removed. I also renew 
the recommendation made in my Inaugural Address, that high schools be 
provided for in each county. The amount of money recjuired by the 
State Superintendent, to carry on the school system for the i)resent 



56 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

year, is based upon a school year of nine months, and is undoubtedly 
largely in excess of the means available for that purpose. I cannot 
recommend any appropriation under this head in excess of our means. 
The homely motto, " Pay as you go," is applicable here as elsewhere. 
Even in educational matters, we cannot afford to make expenditures 
until we have the means to pay. I do recommend, however, that the 
largest appropriation possible, with a due regard to our financial neces- 
sities, be made for all our educational institutions. But — what is quite as 
indispensable to the success of our school system — I trust that our fel- 
low-citizens generally will take a more active personal interest in the 
practical working of the system. It is my purpose, during the coming 
season, to make some personal inspection of our schools in different 
parts of the State, and to seek, in some public and private ways, to call 
out and secure a greater interest in our people generally in this subject. 
In these efforts I know I shall be seconded by the State Superintendent 
of Education, as well as by all those who properly appreciate the rela- 
tions of education and free government. 

The State University, with its preparatory school, the State Normal 
School, and the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Orangeburg, 
will each, I trust, receive the attention which they require at the hands 
of the General Assembly. 

REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

I transmit herewith the Annual Report of the Attorney General. It 
will be found to present, with due fulness of detail, the labors of that 
office in respect to causes in the courts in which the State has been a 
party, or had an interest which required a legal representative. No 
one can examine the Report without being convinced of the importance 
and variety of the public interests to be represented by the Attorney 
General. I earnestly urge the perusal of this Report upon the members 
of the General Assembly. I think they will agree with me in the 
opinion that the litigation conducted through the Attorney General 
and those employed by him, has not only been extensive and most im- 
portant, but that the manner in which it has been conducted, and the 
results attained, are such as to inspire confidence in the fidelity and 
professional skill with which the State has in this respect been served. 
The Report of the Attorney General shows the amount of litigation still 
unfinished. It is unnecessary to add that this unfinished business, 
together with that which will inevitably arise during the present year, 
will require that provision be made for the expenses necessarily con- 
nected with such litigation. I do not doubt that more than one private 
corporation in this State has expended a larger sum in litigation 
during the past year, than has been expended by the State. The 
professional fees paid to those who have represented the State have 
not equalled in amount those which are usually ])aid by private persons 
and corporations for like services. I call attention to the estimate of 
expenses for the present year, at page 103 of the Comptroller General's 
Report. 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 5 f 

COUNTY FINANCES. 

The financial condition of many, if not most, of the counties of the 
State is deplorable. The practice of making expenditures, incurring 
obligations, and issuing checks, warrants, and orders in excess of the 
funds provided to meet them, has prevailed to such an extent as to 
produce a state of affairs which calls for the action of the General 
Assembly. Under the present law, no part of the funds to be col- 
lected for county purposes during the present year can be applied to 
the payment of any obligations incurred prior to November i, 1874. 
The result is, that no resource is open for the present payment of many 
of the most meritorious creditors of the counties. I instance here, as 
of that class, the jurors, sheriffs, and other officers, who have felt com- 
pelled, or actually been compelled, by their public duty, to give their 
time, or to use their personal credit, to maintain the public institutions 
of their counties. No juror could refuse to obey his summons to 
attend the courts ; no sheriff could open his jail doors because the 
County Treasurers could not furnish funds to feed the prisoners. In 
this way it has happened, to my personal knowledge, that county officers 
have exhausted their personal means and credit, and are left without 
hope of present payment. To remove this injustice, authority should 
be given to the County Commissioners, under proper instructions, to 
levy taxes to gradually pay past indebtedness. This should not be 
done in one levy, but the tax should be distributed over two or more 
years. The next duty is to provide some effectual protection against 
such evils in the future. The only perfect protection is honesty and 
economy on the part of the County Commissioners ; but in the 'absence 
of those qualities, something may be done, I think, by legislation. To 
this end, and as the result of my most careful examination of the sub- 
ject, I recommend that the system of specific levies be applied to county 
taxes. I do not know that it will be expedient or practicable to make 
a specific levy for every class of county expenditures, but I do recom- 
mend that the levies be made specific for such objects as the pay of 
jurors, the dieting of prisoners, and other expenses which are of such a 
character as to be essential to the maintenance of public order and 
government. There is scarcely any subject which calls more loudly 
for redress than our county financial systems, and I trust the General 
Assembly will devise and apply the proper remedies. 

FLOATING INDEBTEDNESS OF THE STATE. 

The floating indebtedness of the State presents a subject so vast, 
undefined, and complicated, as to require the exercise of our best judg- 
ment, as well as great caution, in dealing with it. The total amount of 
the apparent indebtedness of this class is unascertained. The legal 
validity of a large part of it is more than doubtful, and the meritorious 
character of a still larger part may well be disputed. There is a certain 
view which may be taken of this whole class of indebtedness, which 
would treat it as a matter to be indefinitely postponed. In this view 
the present Administration and General Assembly miglit regard it as 



58 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

an indebtedness for which they are not responsible, and which they 
should not, therefore, permit to become a burden upon their manage- 
ment of public affairs. For my own part, I cannot altogether take this 
view of the subject ; I must regard so much of this indebtedness as has 
the character of legal and moral validity as a portion of the public bur- 
den which we, who are now called to conduct public affairs, must assume. 
On the other hand, I am inflexibly opposed to the hasty or present 
liquidation of any considerable portion of this indebtedness. The 
public interests, in my judgment, require, first, that we should provide 
for the payment promptly, and in full, of all expenditures made or to 
be made during the present year. Not until this is done should our 
attention be turned to the past floating indebtedness of the State. 

Further than this, I am opposed to any plan which looks to the indis- 
criminate payment of all this indebtedness or its indiscriminate reduc- 
tion or rejection. I think its amount, the various classes of which it 
consists, the time and circumstances under which and the objects for 
which it was incurred, should be ascertained. After this is done, I think 
such portions of this indebtedness as have the highest merit in point of 
general equity should be provided for, if it can be done without impos- 
ing too great a burden of taxation upon the people. Under this latter 
head, I think, would fall the existing indebtedness, in great part, at 
least, of the Lunatic Asylum and the State Penitentiary, and, perhaps, 
of other charitable and penal institutions. I know, for instance, from 
personal experience and information, that many of our merchants, 
bankers, and other citizens have come forward, from a sense of duty 
and not from ordinary business motives, on several occasions, to sus- 
tain our Lunatic Asylum and Penitentiary by furnishing supplies and 
by lending their money and credit. Such services create the highest 
possible obligation on the part of the State to repay such parties at the 
earliest practicable time. 

I recommend, then, that, after due discrimination between the 
classes of our floating indebtedness has been made, such portions 
or classes of this indebtedness be selected as have the highest equi- 
table claim to payment, and, then, that it be ascertained whether the 
people are able to bear the burden of any additional tax to pay 
them, in whole or in part. Whatever it may be found possible to 
do in this way, I trust will be done. Above all things, the General 
Assembly should make any such levy specific in all respects. The ob- 
jects to which the tax is to be applied should be distinguished, beyond 
all doubt or question ; if any debts are to be paid in full, it should be 
so ordered ; and if a pro rata payment among several debts or classes 
of debts is to be made, the exact mode and percentage of payment 
should be specified. No opportunity should be given for any diversion 
of such funds from the jirecise objects for which they are designed by 
the General Assembly. With the expression of these views, I submit 
the matter to the wisdom of the General Assembly, with the hope that 
such action will be taken as will convince all honest public creditors 
of the readiness of this General Assembly to do all in their power to 
meet the just obligations of the State. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 59 

FISH CULTURE. 

I have been requested by several citizens, for whom I have great re- 
spect, to call the attention of the General Assembly to the subject of the 
stocking of our streams and lakes with fish. It has been represented 
to me that a commissioner or commissioners might be authorized to be 
appointed by the Governor, to serve wholly without pay, who would 
enable the State, at a trifling expense — say about $i,ooo, — to procure 
from the United States and the other States the best varieties of fish 
with which to replenish our waters. I transmit herewith a copy of the 
annual report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of New York, and 
submit the subject to the consideration of the General Assembly. 

MINORITY REPRESENTATION. 

I commend to the consideration of the General Assembly the 
question of enacting a law applying the system of voting, known as 
"cumulative voting" or "minority representation," to the elections of 
incorporated cities and towns in the State. I do not feel prepared to 
do more than to recommend that the system be tried on a small scale 
at present. As a matter of theory, the system promises the best results, 
but I think our policy respecting it should be tentative at first. If its 
practical results are satisfactory when applied to our cities and towns, 
public sentiment will sustain its application to other elections. A bill 
introduced by Senator Cochran, of Anderson, is now before the Senate, 
which embraces this feature among its provisions, and I commend it to 
the favorable action of the General Assembly. 

REVENUE RECOMMENDATIONS. 

I renew, with increased confidence, the recommendations made in 
my Inaugural Address, and especially the recommendations for a .re- 
duction of all public expenditures to the lowest point consistent with 
the actual requirements of good government ; the discontinuance of 
contingent funds, except to a very limited extent ; the shortening of 
the sessions of the General Assembly ; the reduction of its expenses 
and the entire abolition of legislative contingent or incidental funds ; 
the removal of all abuses connected with the public printing ; the 
keeping of expenditures within receipts, and particularly the immediate 
adoption of a proper system of accountability in the disbursement of 
all public funds. The practical enforcement of the last recommenda- 
tion I regard as absolutely essential to our success in avoiding the evils 
of the past, which now block our efforts at progress on every hand. 
Upon this subject my views are so decided that I shall feel obliged in 
future to place the responsibility for a failure to adopt some safer sys- 
tem than the one now prevailing entirely upon the General Assembly. 

MODE OF SELECTING COUNTY AUDITORS AND TREASURERS. 

In my Inaugural Address, I called attention to the question of the 
best mode of selecting the County Auditors and Treasurers. My re- 



60 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

marks on that occasion have been understood as a positive recommen- 
dation of their election by the people. Such was not my intention, 
nor does my language properly convey that meaning. I intended 
simply to bring the question before the General Assembly. My rela- 
tions to this question are such, at present, as possibly to give me an 
unconscious bias in considering the subject. The importunity of 
applicants, the difificulty of obtaining correct and unbiased information 
as to the qualifications of- applicants, and the personal dissatisfaction 
certain to arise, whenever any selection is made from several candi- 
dates, may, I am aware, affect my present judgment upon this question, 
and I therefore leave it, without recommendation, to the wisdom of 
the General Assembly. 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND CONSTABLES. 

In my Inaugural Address, I recommended that the provisions of the 
State Constitution, which require the election by the people in each 
county of " a competent number of Justices of the Peace and Con- 
stables," should be enforced without further delay. Considerable dis- 
cussion has since taken place respecting the wisdom of that recommen- 
dation, and I now venture, in renewing that recommendation, to present 
my reasons more fully. The one all-sufficing reason why those officers 
should be elected by the people, a reason which should supersede the 
necessity of further discussion, in my judgment, is that such is the 
positive requirement of the Constitution. I do not think the general 
policy or result of the system, nor especially any question of party 
advantage or disadvantage, has any proper place in the consideration 
of this question. I understand that constitutions are made to' be 
obeyed and executed. I understand that this principle applies to all 
parts and provisions of the Constitution. I am aware that there is a 
certain latitudinarian rule of construction, a sort of questionable 
"judge-made law," which enable courts, at their discretion, to hold that 
a statute which says " shall " only means " may " ; but I know of no 
respectable authority which permits such a rule to be applied to con- 
stitutions. All the requirements of a constitution are mandatory, and 
if this particular requirement of our Constitution can be set aside, 
then there is no such thing left, as far as I can see, as constitutional 
obligation in our State. The whole question is, therefore, settled for 
me by a simple reference to the Constitution. But if this w^ere a 
question of policy merely, my judgment and experience would lead me 
to the same conclusion. It is a practical impossibility, in my judgment, 
for any Governor to aj^point three hundred and fifty Trial Justices, in 
all parts of the State, so as to secure, to a proper degree, the interests 
of the people affected by these appointments. This impossibility be- 
comes more apparent when the Governor finds himself surrounded 
and trammelled in the discharge of his duty in this respect, by what 
are considered his obligations to the political party to which he owes 
his election. The people of the several counties are certainly better 
qualified to select these officers than any central appointing power can 



ADMINISTRATION. 6 1 

"be, and they are more certain to act in the spirit of a desire to secure 
the welfare of their local community than any Governor can be ex- 
pected to be. Their knowledge is greater, their interest is greater, and 
hence their selections will be better. It is sometimes suggested that 
if these officers were elected by the people, their removal, if found un- 
worthy, would be too difficult. The answer is that the fact of the diffi- 
culty in procuring their removal would, in the first place, produce that 
very caution in making the selection which is needed. But, in the 
second place, there need be no undue delay in procuring the removal 
of unworthy Justices of the Peace. They can, under the Constitution, 
be removed by the process of impeachment or address, and I see no 
difficulty in providing by statute that an indictment for any misconduct 
should work the suspension, and a conviction of such offence should 
work a forfeiture of the office. No officer ought certainly to hold his 
office by a weaker tenure than this. If the constitutional system shall, 
after fair trial, prove to be objectionable, the Constitution can be so 
amended as to put an end to the system and substitute a better system. 
My deliberate conclusion, after a careful consideration, is that the 
General Assembly is bound by the Constitution to provide for the elec- 
tion by the people of the several counties of Justices of the Peace and 
Constables, and I make that recommendation without hesitation. 

REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS. 

In my Inaugural Address, I recommended that the provision of the 
State Constitution which makes it the duty of the General Assembly 
"to provide, from time to time, for the registration of all electors," 
should be no longer disregarded. I have observed the discussion which 
this recommendation has occasioned, but I am unable to feel the force 
of any arguments drawn from considerations of political policy, when 
opposed to a plain requirement of the Constitution. If it were demon- 
strable that party advantage would arise from the neglect of this re- 
quirement of the Constitution, it would not have a feather's weight in 
deterring me from carrying into effect the Constitution which I have 
sworn to support. But it is idle to urge that a registration of electors 
will help or hurt any party which relies upon proper means to sustain 
its supremacy. A registration of electors is an obvious measure of 
justice. It will not prevent all election frauds, but it will go far towards 
that end, and will tend to give a degree of confidence in the result of 
our elections which has sometimes been wanting. 

CONCLUSION. 

In conclusion, I feel warranted in congratulating the General As- 
sembly and our fellow-citizens generally, on the evidences already pre- 
sented of a purpose on the part of all good citizens to aid the present 
Administration in its efforts to restore and enforce good government 
in our State. It is not too much to say that every substantial interest 
of our people has already revived, under the belief that our public 
trusts will be honestly administered. I acknowledge with gratitude, in 



62 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the common interest of our whole people, the many proofs which I 
have received of the sincere purpose of those who did not support me 
in the late election, to sustain the measures and policy announced in 
my Inaugural Address. It betokens a practical unification, in its best 
sense, of our two races. So long as I can be the instrument by which 
such results are promoted, I shall not be disturbed by the unfriendly 
criticism of the few who may charge me with lack of partisan zeal. My 
political principles will never be concealed nor compromised, but when- 
ever the necessities of any political party shall require me to disregard 
or abuse my public trusts, then my allegiance to that party will cease. 
All my recommendations now and heretofore made in the direction of 
public economy have been made in good faith ; nor shall I be satisfied, 
to borrow the language of another, with "that vague and verbal economy 
which public men are so ready to express with regard to public expen- 
ditures, but only with that earnest and inexorable economy which pro- 
claims its existence by accomplished facts." The most auspicious day 
for our State will be the day which finds all our people so united in 
their regard for the public weal that the advent to power of any politi- 
cal party shall not endanger the liberties or the material interests of 
any class of our fellow-citizens. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



Among the comments upon the foregoing Message, the fol- 
lowing, all from Democratic newspapers of the State, are indica- 
tive of the judgment of the people whose personal interests were 
most affected by public extravagance. 

[From the Charleston Netus and Coztrier.] 

We print to-day the special message sent by Governor Chamberlain to the General 
Assembly upon its reassembling yesterday. The message is warmly praised by 
both Conservatives and Republicans in Columbia ; and well it may be, for we can 
say of this message, what we could not say of any previous message, that it contains 
not a single recommendation which is not, in the main, wise, prudent, and just. And 
the tone of the message is as healthy as its policy is sound. Our Republican Gov- 
ernor tells the General Assembly, in plain words, that in South Carolina the Consti- 
tution shall be the highest law ; .and he places on record, before the people, the manly 
declaration that whenever the necessities of any political party shall require him to 
disregard or abuse the public trusts, his allegiance to that party will cease. There 
is a world of cheer and comfort in these words. There is reason for hopefulness and 
for confidence. And we say, once more, to Governor Chamberlain, that so long as he 
maintains his present position, so long as he stands on the high plane of his inaugural 
address and special message, the honest people of all classes will sustain him and 
strengthen him, not as Conservatives or as Republicans, but as citizens of South Caro- 
lina, having one and the same interest in the present and the future of the State. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 63 

After a careful examination of Governor Chamberlain's message, of which we pub- 
lish a part in this issue, we concede a very cordial approval. It deserves to be read 
and pondered by every citizen, for we think its counsel noble and its spirit earnest. — 
Lexington Dispatch. 



The message of Governor Chamberlain on the reassembling of the General Assem- 
bly is just such a one as we were led to look for from him. It is, indeed, full of 
cheer, and the prospect which opens for the future of our State Government is hope- 
ful indeed. — Newberry Herald. 



Governor Chamberlain has addressed an extra message to the General Assembly, 
voluminous in text, strong and pointed in suggestions, has risen above mere party 
questions, and is every day fulfilling the pledges made alike to Conservatives and 
Republicans in his campaign. — The Grange. 

The message is a fit complement of the inaugural address, which met with the 
hearty sanction of the State. All good citizens will labor with the Governor to hasten 
the coming of that auspicious day which shall find " all our people so united in the 
regard for the public weal, that the advent to power of any political party shall not 
endanger the liberties or the material interests of any class of our fellow-citizens." — 
Chester Reporter. 



These words have the ring of the true metal, and in making good his promises 
Governor Chamberlain will be sustained by the good people of the State, irrespective 
of political ties or party affiliation. . . . It is gratifying to note that for the first 
time since reconstruction our State Government is honorably recognized abroad and 
commanding respectful mention. — Yorkville Enquirer. 



We are happy to unite with others in the most hearty approval of the general 
contents of the message, and rejoice to see in it a fulfilment, so far, of the pledges 
made by the Governor in his inaugural, which were, in fact, only a vindication of those 
made during the canvass. We rejoice at the fine opportunity afforded by Governor 
Chamberlain to prove to the world that Southern gentlemen are not capable of the 
folly of proscription and oppression to men for mere opinions in politics. There is 
another illustration in this State of the real temper and feeling of Southern men. 
Governor Orr was a most pronounced Republican and a strong supporter, up to his 
death, of the administration of General Grant. Yet he never incurred the odium and 
dislike or general denunciation of old South Carolina, because the people who had 
known him were satisfied that all his aims were for his country's good, although they 
may have included his own personal promotion .as well. In other words, they believed 
him honest. If Governor Chamberlain continues in the course he has set out in, he 
will earn the same position that was occupied formerly by Governor Orr. — Enter- 
prise and Mountaineer. 



We are sure that the good people of the State will hail the present message as a 
new proof of the good faith of the Governor, and will extend to him their cordial 
support — Press and Banner. 



64 GO VERNOR CHA MBERLAIjV ' S A D MINIS TRA TION. 

The Governor certainly has clear ideas of what ought to be done, and seems de- 
termined to have them carried into execution. A fine opportunity was afforded his 
Excellency to make a political speech and ventilate his views on outrages, "banditti," 
Sheridan and Grant ; but, with commendable good taste, he makes not the slightest 
allusion to these exciting topics.. He addresses himself to the domestic economy of 
South Carolina, which he knows needs attention, and can furnish sufficient material for 
the patriotism and mental activity of the Legislature. — Camden Journal. 



I think now it is generally conceded that Chamberlain will be a governor of the 
whole people, as to general justice and right, though he will confine his app9intments 
chiefly to Republicans, where competent ones can be found. I have no objection to 
this, as it is natural and reasonable. Whenever, however, any unwise law or fraudu- 
lent measure seeks his approval, I think it will receive his official condemnation. 
His ability enables him to know the right, and his ambition and interest alike, apart 
from his moral sense of duty, prompt him to carry it out. The wisdom of his last 
message as to confining appropriations to the sum levied for the purpose, if heeded, 
will go farther to correct past evils than any thing else. In two years we hope and 
believe that his administration will be such as to render the white people of the State 
the strongest supporters of Governor Chamberlain. Our people only want a wise, just, 
and economical government, and this, I believe, he will endeavor to inaugurate. — 
Co7\ of Keowee Courier. 



CHAPTER VI 



Message Regarding the Appointment of Trial Justices — Trouble in Edgefield County 
Settled by Disbanding the Colored Militia — Letter to the Chairman of the Sen- 
ate Committee on Finance Presenting a Scheme for Retrenchment in Appropri- 
ations — Veto of an Act Validating Certain Payments by the Treasurer of 
Edgefield County — The Union Herald and the News and Courier — A Significant 
Article. 

IN his Inaugural Address Governor Chamberlain had called 
the attention of the Legislature to the neglect to make 
provision for the election by the people, of Justices of the Peace 
and Constables, as authorized by the Constitution, and had sharply 
arraigned the evils of the existing system of Trial Justices, declar- 
ing that " the incumbents of these ofifices are to a great extent 
deficient in the qualities which make a useful magistrate," and 
pledging himself, while the system continued, " to use the power 
of appointment in such a way as to give to the people Trial Jus- 
tices who will know the law, and will use their powers to preserve 
the rights and protect the interests of all." That the duty would 
be " onerous and difBcult," he expressly recognized ; but he added, 
" I shall endeavor to discharge it without fear or favor." The 
Legislature paid no heed to his recommendation that the scheme 
sanctioned by the Constitution should be put in execution, and 
it soon became his duty to make certain nominations of Trial 
Justices. In what spirit he performed this duty and with what 
spirit he was met, appear in the following oi^cial papers : 



Senate Chamber, 
Columbia, January 25, 1875. 
To the Editor of the Daily Union-Herald : 

Sir — I am directed by the Senate to furnish to the press copies of 
the following communications. 

Very respectfully, J. WOODRUFF, 

Clerk of the Senate. 

65 



^^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, January 26, 1875. 

Hon. R. H. Gleaves, President of the Senate : 

Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your commu- 
nication of the 25th inst., informing me that the Senate desires the re- 
moval of the usual secrecy observed with Executive communications in 
the case of any Message to the Senate, relative to the appointments of 
Trial Justices. 

I cordially assent to such removal, and I beg leave to add that I 
have seen with great regret the erroneous statements made respecting 
this matter, and I feel that the publication of the Message will be the 
surest mode of doing full justice to the Senate as well as myself. 

Nothing is more important to the public interests, or more desired 
by me, personally and officially, than the preservation of mutual confi- 
dence and respect between the Senate and the Executive. I am happy 
to believe that such are the sentiments of every member of the Senate. 
Very respectfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, January 20, 1875. 

To the Senate {in Executive Session) : 

Gentlemen — I have addressed you a Message in executive session, 
in order that I may lay before you my views respecting the appoint- 
ment of Trial Justices. 

From all the information within my command, I am fully satisfied 
that there is no one feature of our administration of the State Govern- 
ment at the present time which demands change and reform more than 
the Trial Justices. The only reform practicable, so far as I can see, 
is the removal of unworthy Trial Justices, and the substitution of 
worthy men in their places. My determination in this respect has been 
fully announced in public. It is not to consent to the appointment of 
any man as Trial Justice whom I do not upon my conscience believe to 
be honest and capable. This I owe to myself, to my office, and to the 
people. 

I am now endeavoring to discharge this duty, and I regret to find 
that there are, in many instances, irreconcilable differences, as to the 
proper men to be appointed between the Executive and those who rep- 
resent the several counties in the General Assembly. I am anxious at 
all times to agree with those of my own political party in these ap- 
pointments, but I can never purchase this harmony by disregarding 
my own judgment, founded upon the best information which I can 
obtain. I am not tenacious of any selections which I may make, if 
others equally competent and honest are presented to me, but I feel it 
due to the Senate and to myself to explicitly say that I cannot be ex- 
pected to nominate men whom I do not believe to be duly qualified, 



A£>MINISTRATION. 6/ 

even after the rejection by the Senate of those whom I may have first 
nominated. I think public duty will require me to make only such 
nominations as commend themselves to my judgment as fit to be made 
under all possible circumstances. 

In regard to political qualifications, I recognize the rule that the 
dominant party is entitled to the greater part of these appointments ; 
provided always that that party can furnish men well qualified for 
such offices. I do not think that this rule requires me to refuse to 
appoint a political opponent as Trial Justice when, upon the whole, I 
judge that the good order and general welfare of a community will be 
better promoted by appointing occasionally one of the party now in 
the minority in this State. 

On Saturday last I sent to the Senate a list of nominations as Trial 
Justices for Aiken County. 'All but one of those nominations were 
made upon the recommendation of the delegation from that county. 
The one exception was a most worthy, liberal-minded, and competent 
citizen, universally respected in his community, but belonging to the 
Conservative party. I have been notified of his rejection by the Sen- 
ate. This I regard as a grave mistake, and a mistake which tends in a 
large degree to paralyze my efforts to rescue the administration of the 
law by our Trial Justices from the degradation into which it has fal- 
len. If there were any charges of incompetency, bitterness of politi- 
cal or color prejudices, to be urged against the gentleman referred to, 
I would not have nominated him, but the only possible ground for 
his rejection was his political opposition to the dominant party. 

I transmit herewith a list of nominations for Trial Justices in Chester 
County. These nominations are not wholly selected from the Repub- 
lican party, because I have not been able to find men of that party in 
all the several localities who have seemed to me to be qualified. I 
present them to the Senate as the best result of my most careful in- 
quiries, and I trust I shall be pardoned for expressing the hope that 
none of them will be rejected, except upon the ground that they 
are not qualified to fill these offices, or that others equally well quali- 
fied can be recommended to me in their places. ' 

I am always ready upon suitable grounds to recall any nomination 
made by me, but I most earnestly urge Senators to consider these nom- 
inations from the high plane of the public welfare', and not to re- 
ject nominations made of worthy men merely because their politi- 
cal opinions are not in accord with those of a- majority of the Senate, 
especially when their places cannot be supplied by equally competent 
men from the dominant political party. Very respectfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



Just at this time occurred an outbreak of race antagonism in 
Edgefield County of the kind that had been frequent hitherto. 
Commonly they had been suppressed by assuming that the 



68 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

colored people were being wickedly persecuted without cause, 
and calling upon the National Executive for troops to put down 
"domestic insurrection." The State militia, an irresponsible 
and undisciplined force, organized by Governor Scott more as a 
partisan weapon than a means of preserving the peace of the 
State, was under arms in the county, and already one or two 
lives had been lost in collisions between the militia and the 
white citizens, who, on their part, were organizing rifle clubs. The 
situation was serious. Governor Chamberlain resolved to deal 
with this trouble regardless of parties or races, and by estab- 
lishing justice to restore peace and security, if possible, without 
an appeal to the President. To that end he took immediate 
steps to ascertain the real occasion of the trouble. He sent 
Judge Thomas J. Mackay, an able white Republican and a 
native of the State, to Edgefield County to make an investiga- 
tion. Judge Mackay reported that the county authorities had 
been guilty of gross abuses and exactions which the people re- 
sisted, and, further, that the difficulties were aggravated by the 
lawless behavior of the colored militia, the officers being in the 
habit of calling out their men under arms to enforce arbitrary 
proceedings of petty officials and even to settle personal difficul- 
ties. He recommended that^ the militia be disarmed. Where- 
upon the Governor issued the following proclamation. 



State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber. 

Whereas, information has reached me that grave disorders exist in 
the County of Edgefield, rendering insecure the lives and property of 
its citizens, and threatening still further to disturb the public peace of 
said county ; and whereas, it appears that the arms of the State are 
now in the hands of the individual members of the State militia in 
said county, without authority of law or the orders of the Commander- 
in-Chief, and are used in a manner not consistent with the proper 
maintenance of the public peace ; and whereas, it appears that other 
armed military organizations exist in said county, not authorized by the 
general militia law of the State, nor sanctioned by the Commander-in- 
Chief, which said military organizations are alleged to be an obstacle at 
the present time to the restoration of good order in said county ; 
and whereas, it is further alleged that the said county is suffering 
from incompetent and dishonest county officials : 

Now, therefore, I, Daniel H. Chamberlain, as Governor of the State 



ADMINISTRATION. 69 

and Commander-in-Chief of the military forces thereof, do make this, 
my Proclamation, whereby I command and require all arms and equip- 
ments belonging to the State, and now in the possession of the State 
militia in said county, to be forthwith delivered to the commanders of 
the several companies or militia organizations composing the State 
militia in said county, and by the said commanders to be delivered to 
the Colonel of the 9th Regiment of the State Militia, at Edgefield 
Court-House, there to be safely kept to await the further action of the 
Commander-in-Chief. 

And I do further command and require all military organizations 
now existing in said county, not forming a part of the State militia, 
nor sanctioned by the Commander-in-Chief, to forthwith disband, 
and henceforth to cease from assembling, arming, drilling, parading, 
or otherwise engaging in any military exercises. 

And I do further proclaim to all the citizens of said county, that 
the Constitution and laws of the State provide ample and convenient 
modes for the removal of any public officer, elected by the people, who 
shall be guilty of misconduct in office ; and that the Governor is ready, 
at all times, to listen to any complaints made against any officer who 
holds his office by Executive appointment, and upon reasonable proof 
of misconduct in office, to summarily remove or suspend such officer. 

And I do hereby enjoin upon all good citizens of said county, to lay 
aside all passion, to refrain from all acts tending to produce excitement 
or ill-feeling between different parties or classes of citizens in said county, 
and to join in an earnest effort to restore that good-will towards each 
other, and that common regard for public order and reliance on the 
peaceful agencies of the law for the redress of wrongs, which are the 
chief safeguards of individual rights and the public welfare. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the Great Seal of the State to be affixed, at Columbia, this 
[l. s.] twenty-eighth day of January, A.D., 1875, and in the ninety- 
ninth year of American Independence. 

By the Governor : DANIEL H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

H. E. Hayne, Secretary of State. 



This proclamation was obeyed, and order was restored in 
Edgefield. The course of the Governor was highly commended 
both within and without the State. It was something novel for 
a Republican magistrate in the South to exhibit self-reliance in 
such circumstances, and it was almost unheard of that one should 
be willing to concede that any blame for a local reign of violence 
could attach to the conduct of his political supporters. The 
New York Tribune gave significant expression to a general senti- 
ment in the sentence : " Governor Chamberlain has manfully 
made issue with the disturbers of the peace, even in his own 



70 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

party ; something rare in the history of South CaroHna since the 
war." How the action was regarded by the Conservative party 
of South Carohna is shown in the utterance of the Sumter 
Watdunan : 

The State arms have been surrendered with alacrity, and the colored men who 
held them are said to be contracting freely for agricultural labor. Rifle clubs, it is 
said, are also disbanding, and the prospect, so recently ominous, of a bloody war of 
races, seems to indicate a turning of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning 
hooks. So mote it be throughout the whole South. Then will the Southern " out- 
rage mill " cease to grind, and an era of real reform, peace, and prosperity dawn upon 
the country. 

But the Boston Herald was not mistaken when it said : 

For this. Governor Chaml)erlain will ]irobably be commended by the Demo- 
cratic press ; and we most heartily commend him also. But if it had been a white 
league or Ku-Klux clan, we should have heard a terrible howl about the suppression 
of the liberties of the people. It makes a tremendous difference whose ox is gored. 

The Boston Advertise}' of January 29th contained an article 

entitled "A Bold Example," in the course of wliich the following 

comments were made : 

South Carolina has a Governor now whose convictions of the justice of equal 
rights were acquired in the school of Wendell Phillips, who is, moreover, an honest 
man, who does not believe the right to plunder is one of the civil rights of anybody, 
and does believe that all the citizens of the State have a right to good government. 
He is putting these notions into practice to the extent of his power and influence, and 
we hear nothing more of the implacable hostility of the white race toward the blacks, 
nor any thing of the opposition of white men to Republican rule because it is Re- 
publican. The people of all classes are 'hopeful and glad in tne prospect of better 
times under fair rulers. . . . The trouble with most of the Southern States is 
that many of the new voters in them have been taught by unwise " friends " that they 
can, by the aid of the United States, compel justice to be done them by those to whom 
they constantly do injustice. In South Carolina they are being taught that those 
who would have justice must themselves be just. Such a lesson in Louisiana would 
do more to restore order and content than all the regiments in the army could. 



The wasteful and profligate extravagance of the annual appro- 
priation bills passed by previous Legislatures had been confessed 
and condemned by Governor Chamberlain in his speeches as a 
candidate, in his Inaugural Address, and in his special Message of 
April 1 2th, as has already appeared. The action of the Legisla- 
ture in this particular during his term was naturally a matter of 
grave concern. In an important sense it would be the test of 
both his sinceritv and his influence in the direction of reform. 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 7 1 

In spite of all warnings and protests, the Legislature was prepar- 
ing to pass an appropriation bill nearly as extravagant as those 
of previous sessions. In the hope of avoiding any occasion for a 
veto, the Governor determined to give further preliminary notice 
of his views; and when the objectionable purpose of the legisla- 
tive majority became clear, he addressed the following ofificial 
letter to the Committee on Finance, setting forth, in detail, his 
idea of what the annual appropriation bill should be, and how 
it might be framed to meet the imperative requirement of eco- 
nomical administration : 



Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, February 5, 1875. 
Hon. W. B. Nash, Chairman Cofnmittee on Finance., State Se7iate : 

Dear Sir — I beg leave to lay before you and your committee some 
suggestions respecting the pending appropriation bill, now in the 
hands of your committee. 

Before proceeding to speak specifically of this bill, I beg to call 
your attention to the views expressed by me in my Inaugural Address, 
on page 12 of the printed copies, and also in my special Message, at 
page 9 of the printed copies.' 

The substance of those views was, that it was absolutely essential 
to good government to keep our appropriations within our receipts. 

I am well aware of the increased difficulty of a strict observance of 
this rule at the present session, growing out of the want of any observ- 
ance of it in the past. It is a hard and ungracious task to cut down 
appropriations when they have obtained the sanction of usage. It cuts 
off the means of support of many who depend upon them. But, as I 
understand our duty, yours as well as mine, it is to keep steadily in 
view the public good, and to disregard all personal considerations in 
the discharge of this duty. 

Certain it is, that we can never reform the chief abuses of our past 
administration of this State Government until we pay heed to the rule 
of making our expenditures fall within our income. 

Our embarrassment in this work arises from the fact that the pres- 
ent tax levy was made in view of an assessment of property aggregat- 
ing the sum of $176,000,000, whereas the new assessment under which 
that levy is collected, aggregates only about $140,000,000. This falling 
off in the assessed value of the property of the State will doubtless 
make it impossible to keep the appropriations strictly within the re- 
ceipts ; but the duty of coming as near as possible to that result be- 
comes only the more imperative. 

In the case of salaries which are previously fixed by law I see no 

' See p. 14 et seq., also x^y. 52, 59. 



72 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

immediate mode of reducing the appropriations. It is probably the 
duty of the General Assembly to make the appropriation sufficient to 
cover the salaries now allowed by law. 

I am glad to learn, however, that a bill is now pending which 
proposes to reduce all salaries to a limit which will bring them within 
the present resources for their payment. Until such reduction is made, 
we must, I think, let the appropriations stand as reported in all cases 
where the amount of salaries is fixed by law. 

As the appropriation bill now stands, I find the amounts appro- 
priated under the first section aggregate $234,205.75. The proceeds 
*" of the tax levied to meet these appropriations will amount to only 
$150,000— leaving- a deficiency of $84,205. 

The amounts appropriated under the second section aggregate 
$204,350. The proceeds of the tax levied to meet these appropria- 
tions will amount to only $150,000 — leaving a deficiency of $54,350. 

The appropriation made for public printing, under the third section, 
amounts to $50,000. The proceeds of the tax levied to meet this ap- 
propriation will amount to only $40,000 — leaving a deficiency of 
$10,000. 

The aggregate of deficiencies thus created is $148,555. Add to this 
amount the deficiency arising under the legislative appropriation bill, 
and we have an aggregate of deficiencies of $178,555. 

No one will deny that it now becomes our duty to endeavor to 
bring our expenditures down to such an amount as will reduce this 
immense deficiency to the lowest possible limit. To this end I make 
the following suggestions : 

1. Strike out the appropriation made in i)aragraph 13 of section i, 
for additional compensation of County Auditors — $4,785.75. 

2. Reduce the Governor's contingent fund to $3,000. 

3. Reduce the Attorney General's contingent fund to $10,000, in 
paragraph 16 of section i. 

4. Reduce the appropriation for the Lunatic Asylum to $50,000. 

5. Reduce the appropriation for the State Orphan Asylum to 
$10,000. 

6. Reduce the appropriations for salaries of professors in South 
Carolina University to $18,000. This involves the abolition of the 
medical department, of which, under the circumstances, I approve. 

7. Strike out the appropriation of $x,ooo for demonstrator of 
anatomy in paragraph 5 of section 2. 

8. Strike out in same section and paragraph the appropriation for 
apparatus — $1,000. 

9. Reduce the appropriation for miscellaneous expenses of Univer- 
sity to $1,500. 

10. Reduce the appropriation for the preparatory school in South 
Carolina University to $2,000. 

11. Reduce the appropriation for insurance and repairs on the 
University buildings to $4,000. 

12. Reduce the appropriation for the State Agricultural College to 
$5,000. 



.4 DM INI S TRA TION. 7 5 

13. Reduce the appropriation for the State Normal School to $5,000. 

14. Reduce the appropriation for public printing to $40,000. About 
this I do not see how there can be any difference of opinion. 

15. Strike out in section i, paragraph 17, the appropriation for 
rebinding, etc., etc., in the office of the Secretary of State. 

The reductions thus effected will amount to $76,530.75, which 
will reduce the entire deficiencies under this bill to $72,024.25. 

I now recommend further that the proceeds of the phosphate roy.alty 
be entirely devoted to meeting the appropriations made in this bill. 
This fund will amount to at least $40,000, which will make a further 
reduction of deficiencies under this bill to $32,024.25. 

To attain such a result ought to be not only the duty but the 
pride and joy of every man who seeks to serve the State. 

No doubt the reductions suggested will produce hardship and tem- 
porary injury to some interests of the State ; but such evils will not 
be worthy of comparison with the vast gains to be derived from once 
more coming back to the true rule of expending only what we honestly 
have to expend. No injury can be so great as that which we now wit- 
ness in our citizens who have worked for the State or lent their money 
or credit, and are now waiting and suffering, because the State made 
appropriations when she had no funds with which to redeem her 
promises. 

I think the Government can be properly maintained during the 
coming year on the appropriations reduced as I have suggested. 

I further recommend that in section 2, paragraph i, there be in- 
serted between the words "superintendent" and "approved," in line 
10, the words " accompanied by bill of particulars " ; and after the word 
" directors," in the same line, there be added the words, "in respect to 
the prices paid and the quantity of commodities bought or work done." 

1 also recommend that the same changes be made in paragraph 2 
of section 2, in respect to the lunatic asylum. 

I commend these suggestions to your most earnest consideration, 
and remain your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



Upon this letter, the Charleston Nezvs and Courier, February 

10, 1875, made the following comments: 

Talk about reform on the stump counts for nothing ; the fine words are 
forgotten almost as soon as uttered. Nor do we take it for granted that even the 
Governor of a State is fixed in the resolution to practise what he preaches. For this 
reason we did not accept the admirable recommendations contained in the Inaugural 
Address of Governor Chamberlain as proof conclusive that the Executive would act 
as well as .speak — that he would put his shoulder to the wheel and keep it there. But 
Governor Chamberlain has proved that he can find the cure as well as describe the 
disease — that when he insists that the expenses of the Government shall be reduced, 
he is ready, also, to indicate clearly and decisively the precise places in which re- 



74 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

trenchment shall begin. This marks the difference between Governor Chamberlain 
and his Republican predecessors. They prated of economy and honesty, but when 
they met their radical associates they smiled as the Augurs smiled. Governor Cham- 
berlain, on the contrary, shows the General Assembly what their duties are, and, 
when they ire stumbling in the morass, boldly tells them which way they must walk 
if they would reach solid ground once more. 

We have said that we demand for the letter of Governor Chamberlain the favor- 
able consideration of the Legislature, and we mean the Republican members of the 
Legislature. The Conservatives have proved to the country that they were in earnest 
when they declared that what they most desired was not the triumph of a political 
party or faction, but the election of officers who would put a stop to stealing, and see 
that no public money was wasted. Since the election of Governor Chamberlain, 
against whom they made a splendid fight, the Conservatives have unhesitatingly, but 
firmly and consistently, supported every measure of reform which the Executive, or 
any other Republican, recommended to be adopted. We have a right, therefore, to 
demand that the Republican majority — who denounce us as hypocrites, who swore 
great oaths that they, and they only, were the reformers — shall do at least as much as 
the minority have done, and prove to the nation, by their conduct in this emergency, 
that they were and are sincere in their pledges, and that Republicanism in South 
Carolina, as represented by the present General Assembly, is no longer rotten to the 
core. 



The Legi.slature having passed a bill providing for increased 
taxation of the county of Edgefield, for certain purposes, the 
Governor returned it unsigned, with a message which exposes 
the reckless business methods then prevalent. The legislative 
journals contain the following record : 

Columbia, S. C, February 24, 1875. 

The Governor returned, without approval, an Act originating in the 
Senate, entitled " An Act to amend an Act entitled * An Act to validate 
all payments made by the County Treasurer of Edgefield County 
under and pursuant to the provisions of a joint resolution, entitled 
* A joint resolution to authorize the County Commissioners of Edge- 
field County to levy a special tax of three mills, to be levied at the time 
of the general tax' ; and to declare the intent of said joint resolution." 

My objections to this Act are as follows : 

By a joint resolution approved December 22, 1873, entitled " Joint 
resolution to authorize the County Commissioners of Edgefield County 
to levy a special tax of three mills, to be levied at the time of the 
general tax," authority was given to the County Commissioners of 
Edgefield County to levy and collect a special tax of three mills on 
the dollar for the year ending October 31, 1874, and to continue the 
collection of the same tax for each succeeding year until the past in- 
debtedness of that county should be fully paid. 

By an Act passed at the same session of the General Assembly, 
^entitled " An Act to validate all payments made by the County Treas- 



A DM INI S TEA TION. 7 5 

urer of Edgefield County, under and pursuant to the provisions of a 
joint resolution, entitled ' Joint resolution to authorize the County Com- 
missioners of Edgefield County to levy a special tax of three mills, 
lo be levied at the time of the general tax,' and to declare the 
intent of said joint resolution," the payments made by the_ County 
Treasurer of Edgefield County pursuant to the joint resolution of De- 
cember 22, 1873, were validated and declared to have been duly and 
lawfully made in conformity with the true intent and meaning of the 
aforesaid joint resolution. It was further declared by the same Act 
to be the true intent and meaning of the said joint resolution, that all 
past-due claims which had been audited and allowed, and for which 
checks or orders had been issued prior to the passage of the said joint 
resolution — that is, December 22, 1873, — shall be paid in full out of 
the special tax levied under the said joint resolution, without requir- 
ing such past-due claims to be re-audited. 

The scope and effect of the present Act is to extend the operation 
of the last-named Act so as to require the payment in full of all claims 
audited and allowed by the County Commissioners prior to October 31, 
1874, without further audit. 

The last-named Act gave no reason why it became necessary thus to 
validate payments made by the Treasurer of Edgefield County, n'or 
why it became necessary to require the payment in full of all past-due 
claims without re-auditing. 

If the payments made by the Treasurer were properly made, no en- 
actment was necessary to establish their validity. If they were not 
properly made, there appears to be no good reason why they should 
have been made validby the General Assembly. 

The passage of thepresent Act cannot fail to create the impression 
that, but for such special enactment, the claims referred to will not be 
paid in full, or without some re-examination, or re-auditing. Such 
action does not commend itself to my favorable consideration. Grave 
and repeated complaints have been publicly made that the financial 
affairs of Edgefield County have not been correctly conducted. While 
the proofs of such charges have not been laid before me, and I am con- 
sequently unable to say. whether they are well founded or not, yet the 
fact of such complaints may justly restrain me from consenting to 
any legislation which seems intended to summarily cut off all further 
opportunity for questioning the validity of any claims allowed by the 
County Commissioners prior to the close of the last fiscal year.. These 
claims, so far as I can learn, have never been subjected to any exam- 
ination, except such as they may have received at the hands of the 
County Commissioners. If, as has already been remarked, the action 
of the County Commissioners has been legal and just, the claims in 
•question will not suffer from any examination to which they may be 
subjected. If, on the other hand, any injustice or wrong has been 
done by the Commissioners, it is not just that the people should be 
compelled to submit to such injustice or wrong without further oppor- 
tunity for investigating such claims. 



^(i GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

If no legal proceedings shall be instituted to test the validity of the 
claims in question, the Treasurer will need no special authority for 
paying them, and if such proceedings shall be instituted for testing 
their validity, I cannot consent to override such proceedings by legis- 
lation. The least that can justly be done in such a case is to leave 
the redrfess of any alleged wrongs done by the County Commissioners 
to the judicial tribunals. 

The belief is general throughout the State that many, if not most, of 
our counties are now burdened with past indebtedness, which is due, 
in a great degree, to the improvidence or dishonesty of county of- 
ficials. I share in this belief. I am confident that there is not one 
county in this State in which money enough has not been collected by 
taxation to pay every dollar of legitimate expense in maintaining the 
government of the county. It is right, therefore, that such past in- 
debtedness should be most carefully scrutinized. No such scrutiny 
can be too severe or minute. To enact that such past indebtedness 
shall be paid in full and without further examination is to add to the 
burden of injustice under which the people of many counties are now 
groaning. Especially is this true of Edgefield County, where recent 
events should teach us that prudence and justice alike forbid any 
increase of the causes of dissatisfaction and disturbance which have 
hitherto existed. 

The past indebtedness of that county should be most carefully ex- 
amined, and, when duly examined, should be provided for in such a 
manner as to impose the least hardship on the taxpayers of the county. 
Certainly no such summary mode of payment and forbidding of further 
examination as is provided for in the present Act should be adopted. 

But, in addition to the objections already stated, I find another 
weighty and conclusive objection to the present Act, in the fact that 
judicial proceedings are now instituted and pending in the Circuit Court 
for Edgefield County, which have for their object, as I am informed, 
the investigation of the claims which constitute the past-due indebted- 
ness of Edgefield County. Such an investigation is the common right 
of all the people of that county, and it would, in my judgment, be unwise, 
and unjust, pending the conclusion of such j.udicial investigation, to^ 
direct the payment in full of all claims against the county. 

The Cirucit Court can be safely trusted to do justice in the premises, 
and a due regard for the interest of the people of the county requires 
that the Court should be allowed to proceed to such conclusions as 
law and justice may dictate. 

I am satisfied that the real object of the present Act is to make 
certain claims against the county, which are not now payable out of 
any funds, payable out of the proceeds of the special tax directed to 
be levied by the joint resolution of December 22, 1873. To that ob- 
ject I see no objections, but, unfortunately, the present Act has an 
effect far wider than simply to make such claims payable ; for as al- 
ready shown, it makes such claims not only payable, but directs their 
payment in full, and unthotit a nv further examination. 

Very respectfully"^ D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 7/ 

This chapter will fitly close with an editorial article which 
appeared in the Charleston Nezus and Courier, February 25, 1875. 
And here a word may be said regarding two South Carolina 
journals to which frequent allusion will be made. 

The Union-Herald, published at the capital of the State, was 
the recognized orgaTToTTTTeTR-epublican party It was the only Re- 
publican daily newspaper. But a small proportion of the merribers 
of the RepubficaiT^arty were able to read at all, and of those 
who possessed the accomplishment many were poor and regarded 
a newspaper as a luxury they could do without. Information 
was disseminated and opinion formed chiefly by oral communica- 
tion and .discussion. The Union-Herald y^jQ^s^^^x^sJoXed to live by 
the of^cial patronagegive n to it, and did valuable service in pre- 
senting and preserving much material of history regarding the 
reconstruction era in South Carolina which otherwise would have 
perished, or have been rescued only in the incomplete and dis- 
torted form which a bitterly hostile and contemptuous partisan ; 
press, without fear of permanently recorded correction, might 
vouchsafe. The weakness of the support of Republican journal- 
ism in South Carolina is shown by the circumstance that soon 
after the State government passed into the control of the Dem- 
ocratic part)^ it ceased to exist. But even while it survived, 
the main dependence of Republican leaders for disseminating ' 
their ideas in their own party was not the press but the plat- 
form. During Governor Chamberlain's administration, the Unio7i- \ 
Herald, edited by Mr. James G. Thompson, not only sustained \ 
him as a Republican, but cordially and earnestly supported his < 
reform policy. 

The Charleston News and Courier has long been recognized as 
one of the leading newspapers of the South and, in the ability of 
its discussion of public questions, among the foremost in the land. / 
In South Carolina its influence has been almost autocratic. In- 
tensely partisan and Southern in sentiment, it is capable at times 
of rising to a high plane of patriotism. In 1874 it was a fierce 
opponent of Governor Chamberlain's election, but after the delivery 
of his Inaugural Address it supported him, at first with cautious 
approbation, and later with confidence, zeal, and admiration, until 
the campaign of 1876, when, by a combination of circumstances. 



78 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

its counsel was overruled in the Democratic convention, and it 
again became an uncompromising party organ. 

The article following was entitled " Governor Chamberlain," 
and pledges a support which must have been extremely gratify- 
ing in view of the conflicts pending. 

• When Mr. Chamberlain accepted the nomination of the Republican 
State Convention last fall, the Conservatives asserted, in the words of the Union 
Herald, that he was "the reticent tool of this and that Ring." The event 
has proved that the Conservatives were both right and wrong. They judged Mr. 
Chamberlain by the company he had kept, and did not expect him to be bolder as 
Governor than he was as Attorney General. The Union-Herald confesses, at last, 
that the corruptionists accepted Mr. Chamberlain's nomination "with apparent 
heartiness, but with secret dread." The promises of the Republican platform, and 
the speeches of the candidates. Mere, to many Republicans, " mere counters in the 
game of politics — never to be redeemed." This is what the Conservatives main- 
tained. They formed a wrong estimate of Mr. Chamberlain's character, it is true. 
So did the men that supported him. When his own associates and companions mis- 
judged him, it is not strange that his political opponents should have done the same 
thing. Both parties have discovered their error ; the Conservatives to their profound 
satisfaction, and the Radical Chadbands and Pecksniffs to their deep chagrin. The 
corrupt Republicans never dreamed, says the Union-Herald, that the wise legislation 
of last season would be obeyed or literally interpreted — the funding act, the disavowal 
of the fraudulent bonds, the specific tax levy, etc., were " only voted for by them for 
buncombe, or thrown as tubs to the whale of reform." The Conservatives, from the 
day when the brave, bright words of his inaugural address fell from his lips, have 
cordially supported Gov. Chamberlain's recommendations, and have not, in a single 
instance, failed to give him, by their votes in the Legislature, and by their voice in the 
public press, every possible help, comfort, and cheer. Especially has the conduct of 
the Conservative members of the General Assembly been distinguished for moderation, 
for consistency, for good faith. And this makes it incumbent upon us to put on record 
an emphatic denial that the Conservative citizens of the State will play the part for 
which the Union-Herald casts them. 

We admit that the struggle between Governor Chamberlain and the more corrupt 
elements of his own party has " an immense political significance " for the Conserva- 
tives ; but it is unjust and untrue to say, as the Union-Herald does, that " they will 
not put a feather's weight in the way of the ruin of the political influence of any 
prominent Republican leader — especially if he be one whose ability makes him more 
than usually dangerous to them." The South Carolina Conservatives proved in 1870, 
and again in 1872, and once more in 1874, that their sole aim and purpose is to im- 
prove the character of the State Government, and that they will cheerfully co-operate 
with any body of Republicans who are honestly striving to reform abuses and reduce 
taxation. They cannot be twitted with neglecting to support the Bolters in 1872, par- 
ticularly as Mr. Chamberlain and all the present Republican leaders of note supported 
the Regular candidate. As Judge Green, who was the candidate of the Bolters for the 
office of Attorney General in 1872, and the candidate of the Independents and Con- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 79 

servatives for Governor in 1874, said shortly before his death : " The success of the 
Bolters' movement, from which little real good could have come, would have made 
impossible the co-operation campaign of 1S74. " From this co-operative movement 
as Judge Green saw, lasting benefits must arise. Nay ! we see them and feel them 
already. In his very first struggle with the knaves whom the Union-Herald holds, 
up to scorn, Governor Chamberlain was saved from defeat by the solid vote of .the 
Conservative members of the Legislature and by that alone. Had Whipper been 
elected Judge of the Charleston Circuit, in spite of Gov. Chamberlain's open opposi- 
tion and public protest, the Administration would have been paralyzed, and the State 
would have fallen again into the hands of the plunderers. The Conservative vote, 
joined to the Independent Republican vote, enabled Gov. Chamberlain, and the bet- 
ter Regular Republicans, to break the Ring and defeat their chosen candidate. This 
should be answer enough to the charge that the Conservatives would not intervene to 
save Gov. Chamberlain from ruin. They did intervene, at a time when their quies- 
cence would have been fatal to the Executive and his supporters. What the Conserva- 
tives did at the time of the judicial election, they have continued to do upon every 
occasion. They have stood squarely by the Administration ; they have strengthened 
Gov. Chamberlain, and, in a measure, enabled Republicanism to lift itself from the 
slough into which it had fallen. And they have done this from no lust of office or 
hope of preferment. They have no expectation of reward, other than that which they 
will share with the citizens of the State when the rod of rascality shall be broken and 
cast aside. They are animated by a single desire to see the Government of the State 
in honest, capable, and faithful hands, so that they and theirs may live securely, and 
enjoy, in peace, what means the fortunes of war may have left them, or industry and 
energy may win. It is impossible to conceive, nor is there found in the history of 
American politics, a loftier and more generous position than that which is held by the 
Conservative citizens of South Carolina. They cling to fheir political faith and will 
not desert it ; but they look, first of all, to the interests of the State ; they recognize 
honesty and merit wherever they are found, and when they see a fearless and far- 
sighted man, in the ranks of the opposing party, making a gallant stand against the 
onslaught of thieves and rogues, they group themselves around him, and pledge ta 
him, as they may, their steady and continuous support. Just as long as Gov. Chamber- 
lain is faithful to his own words, so long will the Conservatives, quietly and unosten- 
tatiously, give him what aid they can. Their heartiest wish is that he may become 
what he aspires to be — the Governor, not of a party, but of a united and contented 
people. 





CHAPTER VII. 

The Attempt to Remove from Office Hon. F. L. Cardozo, the State Treasurer — Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain Condemns the Project, and Defends the Course of the 
Treasurer — Comments of the Press. 



IN March, 1875, the Republican majority of the Legislature 
took proceedings for the removal from ofifice of Francis 
L. Cardozo, State Treasurer. Mr. Cardozo had beerr elected in 
1872 for a term of four years, and next to the Governor he was 
the most important State officer. He was an earnest advocate of 
the nomination and election of Governor Chamberlain, a strong 
supporter in all ways of his Administration, and, being a well- 
educated, able colored man, he possessed great and deserved in- 
fluence. The motives which led to the attack upon him at this 
time, are fully stated in the documents which follow. 

[Special Despatch to the Charleston N'ews and Cottricr.] 

Columbia, March loth. — The joint committee to-night submitted the address 
demanding the removal of State Treasurer Cardozo. The address prefers the fol- 
lowing charges : 

Charge First. Irregularity and misconduct in office. 

Specification l. In funding $978,500 of the hypothecated bonds, which were in 
the possession of persons not the actual owners thereof, which bonds were not law- 
fully issued, and were, therefore, not legal obligations of the State. 

Specification 2. That the Treasurer did, between June, 1874, and February, 1875, 
fund $241,011 of detached coupons which matured before July i. 1871, when he had 
the means of knowing, and should have known, that the whole of the interest due on 
the bonds of the State up to that date had been paid, and that said coupons were not 
entitled to be funded. 

Specification 3. That the Treasurer funded $196,485 of coupons which matured 
between April, 1869, and October, 1871, and which were detached from bonds of the 
State before and during the period of the hypothecation of the said bonds, and that 
he should have known that said coupons were the property of the State. 

Specification 4. That the Treasurer funded $6,960 of coupons detached from 
bonds, and which matured before the bonds themselves were issued from the State 
Treasury. 

Specification 5. That the Treasurer funded $69,205 of detached coupons which 

80 



A DM IN IS TEA TION. 8 1 

matured between January, 1870, and July, 1871, and the bonds from which they were 
detached having always been the property of the State, and still being in the posses- 
sion of the State Treasury, marked cancelled and unused. 

Specification 6. Diversion of the interest fund, thereby defeating the intent of the 
Funding Act, and endangering the security guaranteed to the creditors of the State. 

Charge Second. Wilful neglect of duty, in failing to make monthly reports to the 
Comptroller General of the cash transactions of his office, which neglect of duty dates 
from October 31, 1874. 

For these reasons the General Assembly, by a vote of two thirds of each house, 
respectfully address your Excellency and ask that the Hon. F. L. Cardozo be removed 
from the office of State Treasurer. 

The committee recommend that a copy of the charges be served upon the Treas- 
urer, and that he be required to appear before both houses in joint assembly on 
Tuesday, the i6th instant, to make answer to the same. The committee also promise 
to submit rules of procedure. The report was presented in both houses and adopted. 

With this despatch the following report of a conversation 
with Governor Chamberlain on the subject was published : 

Columbia, S. C, March 10, 1875. — In obedience to instructions 
received from you by telegraph, I waited on Governor Chamberlain to- 
day, when the following conversation took place on the subject of the 
charges against State Treasurer Cardozo : 

Reporter. There is a great public interest felt, Governor, to know 
your views of the case of Mr. Cardozo, and I have called to inquire if 
you are willing to make them known through The News and Courier. 

Governor. Yes, sir ; I see no good reason why I should not answer 
your inquiries fully. The matter is one that interests me beyond any 
thing else which has occurred during my Administration, and I have not 
failed to read every word that has appeared in the various documents 
connected with it. Of course every fair-minded man holds himself 
open to the consideration of any new facts or evidence which may be 
added to the case, or any new arguments based on the facts already 
developed. Premising this, I do not hesitate to say that I have entire 
confidence in Mr. Cardozo. Men, many men, friends of mine, have 
come to me and said, " Don't mix yourself up in this fight. It is no 
affair of yours, and you ought to keep clear of it." Now, what sort of 
advice is this ? What do such men take me for ? Do they think I am 
going to sit by and see injustice done to a State officer without opening 
my mouth ? It would be damnable cowardice. If I knew to-day there 
was not another man in the world who would speak for Mr. Cardozo, 
I would all the more stand by him. I have n't come into this office 
expecting a bed of roses. I am not half so anxious to make friends or 
avoid enemies as I am to do right ; and until evidence, facts, compel 
me to lose faith in Mr. Cardozo, he shall have my confidence and my 
personal and moral support in every form. Well, sir, I have examined 
all the evidence yet adduced, and I find nothing to shake my faith in 
Mr. Cardozo's honesty. 



82 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Reporter. Let me ask you, at this point, Governor, what has been 
heretofore your estimate of Mr. Cardozo ? 

Governor. I have known Mr. Cardozo intimately since last summer. 
He was an early supporter of mine for my present position. I think 1 
have known his aims and plans, and I say without qualification that I 
have never heard one word or seen one act of Mr. Cardozo's which did 
not confirm my confidence in his personal integrity and his political 
honor and zeal for the honest administration of the State Government. 
On every occasion, and under all circumstances, he has been against 
fraud and jobbery, and in favor of good measures and good men. The 
public do not know the pressure which has been brought to bear upon 
me in this office to make me yield my views of public duty. If I had 
known it myself beforehand, I would never have dared to take the 
[ office. But in the midst of it all, when I could count all the Republi- 
1 cans who seemed to sympathize with me on the fingers of one hand^ 
there was one man who never faltered, who never failed to come un- 
asked and stand at my side, and that man was Francis L. Cardozo. I 
tell you, sir, I should despise myself if I did not stand by such a man 
J till the last gun was fired, unless I was driven to believe him a hypo- 
crite and scoundrel. 
f Now, sir, I saw this storm gathering long ago. I knew that any 
I man who did his duty as Treasurer, who lent himself to no jobbery, and 
■ had no private ends to serve, would make himself the most unpopular 
j man in South Carolina. Cardozo knew it too. I confess I did not ex- 
j pect to see the elements which view the public service as a mere chance 
to make money, able to make such headway as they are now apparently 
making against Mr. Cardozo. I did hope for better things, but I also 
expected to find a howl and outcry against any man who did his duty 
by the Treasury. I do not wish to be understood as implying that all 
who are opposed to Mr. Cardozo are consciously striking down a faith- 
ful public officer ; but every man here in Columbia knows that the real 
force which urges on this attack upon Mr. Cardozo is not a desire to 
guard the Treasury. I speak now what every man confesses to me when 
I ask him the question. 

Reporter. But, Governor, what do you say of the attitude of the 
Conservatives toward Mr. Cardozo ? 

Governor. Well, sir, I think they intend to do justice to Mr. Car- 
dozo in the end ; and so I think of very many Republicans. I do not 
wonder at their voting for raising a committee to prepare an address. 
That is probably now the only way to bring the whole case to a point 
where justice can be done. I am bound to say that the Conservatives 
have acted with great political generosity and patriotism towards me 
and my Administration. I believe they will do what they think just by 
Mr. Cardozo, and their votes in this matter, so far, indicate no more, 
in my judgment, than a wish to have the case fully tried. I cannot be- 
lieve their vote on appointing the committee represents their probable 
vote on the address of removal, unless new facts are developed. 

Reporter. Will you be kind enough to give me your views of the 
case, as presented up to this time, against Mr. Cardozo ? 



ADMINISTRATION. 83 

Governor. Yes, sir, that is what I desire to do. The charges against 
Mr. Cardozo embrace two general points : First, the funding of certain 
bonds at one time hypothecated in New York, and the coupons attached 
to such bonds ; and second, the diversion of the interest fund. 

Now, with regard to the bonds and coupons alleged to have been 
wrongfully funded, the Act to reduce the volume of the public debt 
makes no exception of any of these bonds or coupons. All are ex- 
changeable under that Act. If these bonds and coupons were outstand- 
ing at the time of the passage of that act, then they were, by the terms 
of the Act, exchangeable. In funding them Mr. Cardozo simply fol- 
fowed the terms of the Act. If, however, any of these bonds or coupons 
were unlawfully outstanding, and knowledge of this were brought home 
to Mr. Cardozo, he might well have refused to fund them, as he did do 
in the case of some coupons. I do not think that Mr. Cardozo would 
have been guilty of any offence, if he had funded any and all coupons 
which were made fundable by the terms of the Act. A strict and literal 
compliance with the law would have been all that could have been 
strictly required of him. If he was in collusion with any parties pre- 
senting bonds or coupons illegally or fraudulently outstanding, then he is 
guilty. But I do not see any such evidence, nor any evidence pointing 
that way. 

The attempt to hold Mr. Cardozo responsible for funding the bonds 
and coupons reported by the Dunn committee, last summer, as hypothe- 
cated without lawful authority is unjust to the last degree. All the in- 
formation now in the possession of the public respecting these bonds 
was presented to the Treasurer and Attorney General last summer, and 
the Attorney General states in his last annual report that he did not 
consider it important enough to cause him to advise that those bonds 
should not be funded. On the contrary, he expressly defends the fund- 
ing of all those bonds. Why, then, is it now attempted to punish Mr. 
Cardozo for doing what the law directed, and what the Attorney Gen- 
eral rdvised ? This particular matter was likewise laid before me last 
summer, and I advised that there was no reason why those bonds 
should not be funded. And I say the same thing now. 

Bring home to Mr. Cardozo any knowledge of any fraud, connect 
him in any way with any intention to do wrong to the State, convict 
him of a wilful neglect of duty or an unwarrantable refusal to act upon 
any evidence of illegality in the bonds or coupons presented to him, 
and you have a case against him. But I see nothing, nothing whatever, 
which gives color to any charge of fraud or evil intent on his part. 

As to the diversion of the interest funds I see still less ground for 
the removal of Mr. Cardozo. Look at the general features of this 
charge. The State has n't lost a dollar. That the law is susceptible 
of the construction given to it by Mr. Cardozo is apparent, both from 
an examination of the Act and from Mr. Melton's letter to Mr. Cardozo. 
That Mr. Cardozo acted also from good motives is likewise evident. 
Where, then, is the ground for any charge involving moral turpitude, 
or rendering him worthy of removal ' 



84 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

I personally know Mr. Cardozo's statements as to the reasons of 
his reducing the balance in the bank early in January to be the reasons 
which he then disclosed to me. His motive then met my approval, and 
I still approve it, though he acted at his own risk. That is, if he had 
failed to replace the funds he would have been liable on his bond and 
to the penalty prescribed in the Act. If the General Assembly, how- 
ever, desire a strict and literal construction of that law, it can be secured 
without visiting any punishment upon an officer who erred, if he erred 
at all, because he sought to favor the General Assembly and to save 
the State funds from loss. 

The position of the Neivs a?id Courier on this question is a 
perfectly fair and just one. If Mr. Cardozo has falsified the records, 
or knowingly done any fraudulent act, or any wilful act resulting in 
injury to the State, then let him be duly punished. If not, let good 
men baffle those who have entered into a conspiracy to knock down one 
of the strongest pillars of the present reform Administration. At any 
rate, whether I stand alone or with many, that will be my course to the 
end. Consequences can take care of themselves. 

The publication of the above despatch was followed by an edi- 
torial article, from which the following extract is made. 

[From the Charleston A/'ews and Coiirier, March 12, 1S75.] 
The charges against State Treasurer Cardozo, as set forth in the address to the 
Governor, are (i) of irregularity and misconduct in office, and (2) of wilful neglect of 
duty. Under the first head he is accused of having funded certain bonds and coupons 
whicli, for different reasons, were not entitled to be funded, and of having diverted 
the interest fund ; and under the second head, he is accused of having failed to make 
monthly reports to the Comptroller General of the cash transactions of his office as 
required by law. This second charge will hardly be held sufficient to warrant the 
adoption of the address, if the defence on the first charge be found sufficient. Mr. 
Cardozo has already explained to the General Assembly that he had not the clerical 
force to enable him to make the reports in question, but his books have always been 
open to inspection by the Comptroller General, who has repeatedly been invited to 
examine them. The Treasury Department has been overburdened with work, and 
we see no reason to think that Mr. Cardozo has not done, in the making of the vari- 
ous reports, the best that he could. When half a dozen things were required to be 
done at the same time, and it was not possible to do them all, he appears to have ap- 
plied himself to those which were most urgent in their nature. We assume that Mr. 
Cardozo will stand or fall by the specifications of the first charge, which are, in brief, 
the charges contained in the report of the Special Investigating Committee. As we 
have said before, we shall not express any final opinion as to the innocence or culpa- 
bility of the Treasurer, until his full and final defence shall have been put in ; and 
the public may count on our saying exactly what we think of that defence, whether 
we concur or not with the two thirds of the General Assembly whose votes are re- 
quired for adopting the address. Mr. Cardozo has, however, one' witness who has 
cheerfully spoken in his behalf. That witness is Governor Chamberlain, and, in 
view of the boldness, persistency, and fidelity with which he has defended the public 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 8 5 

interests from the very day of his installation, the Governor's opinions, especially in a 
matter involving the honest management of the State finances, are entitled to great 
weight. 

Governor Chamberlain said, in his conversation with the Columbia correspondent 
of the News and Courier, that he had read every word in the different documents 
connected with the case of Mr. Cardozo, and he " finds in them nothing to shake his 
faith in Mr. Cardozo's honesty." There is no mystery in the charges. The public 
know what the Investigating Committee know. Governor Chamberlain probably 
knows more than either the Committee or the public, and he unhesitatingly says that, 
while he holds himself open to the consideration of any new facts or evidence that 
may be brought out, he has entire confidence in Mr. Cardozo. Nor does the Gov- 
ernor content himself with glittering generalities. Governor Chamberlain, who was 
Attorney General from iS68 to 1872, and who is certainly familiar with the fiscal legis- 
lation of the State, says positively that " the bonds and coupons alleged to have been 
wrongfully funded " are all exchangeable under the Funding Act, if they were out- 
standing at the time of its passage ; and he does not think that Mr. Cardozo would 
have been guilty of any offence "if he had funded any and all coupons which were 
made fundable by the terms of the Act." This is a plain and sensible view of the 
case. So long as Mr. Cardozo was governed by the law, in its letter, he was not 
guilty of any official misconduct. If he was in collusion with any persons presenting 
bonds or coupons illegally outstanding, then he was guilty ; but Governor Chamber- 
lain does not see " any such evidence, nor any evidence pointing that way." This is 
the deliberate opinion of a gentlfman who ranks with the first of the foremost law- 
yers in the State, and who would be involved in personal and political ruin, with the 
Treasurer, if he sustained that officer in any unlawful act, or proclaimed him to be 
innocent when he had any reason to believe him to be guilty. It is, moreover, a 
strong point that the information now published about the bonds alleged to have been 
unlawfully hypothecated was before the public last summer. There is nothing new 
in it. The information was submitted to the Attorney General, who, in his Report to 
the Legislature, said that he did not consider it important enough to cause him to 
advise that these bonds should not be funded. On the contrary, the Attorney Gen- 
eral " expressly defends the funding of all those bonds." Mr. Cardozo is blamed for 
doing " what the law directed, and what the Attorney General advised." Governor 
Chamberlain advised the Treasurer, last year, that there was no reason why those 
bonds should not be funded, and he " says the same thing now." 

With reference to the diversion of the interest fund. Governor Chamberlain says 
that the law is susceptible of the construction given by Mr. Cardozo, that the State 
has not lost a dollar, and that it is evident that Mr. Cardozo acted from good motives. 
We think, nevertheless, that the construction put upon the law was not what the Legis- 
lature intended, and we think still that an Act declaring the exact meaning of the 
statutory provisions relative to the interest fund should be passed, so as to avoid any 
more complications in the future. 

An important statement was made by Governor Chamberlain in explanation of the 
animus of most of those members who demand the removal of the Treasurer. We 
reproduce the Governor's own words : 

" I saw this storm gathering long ago. I knew that any man that did his duty as 
Treasurer, who lent himself to no jobbery, and had no private ends to serve, would 



86 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

make himself the }>iost unpopular man in South Carolina. Cardozo knew it too. I 
confess I did not expect to see the elements which view the public service as a mere 
chance to make money, able to make such headway as they are now apparently mak- 
ing against Mr. Cardozo. I did hope for better things, but I also expected to find a 
howl and outcry against any man who did his duty by the Treasury. I do not wish to 
be understood as implying that all who are opposed to Mr. Cardozo are consciously 
striking down a faithful public ofificer ; but every man here in Columbia knows that 
the real force which urges on this attack upon Mr. Cardozo is not a desire to guard 
the Treasury. I speak now what every man confesses to me when I ask him the 
question." 

This confirms us in the opinion we have frequently expressed. The Conserva- 
tives can have no other purpose than to see the case fairly, tried ; but the Radical 
members, with few exceptions, are only anxious for Mr. Cardozo's removal because 
he has been faithful and capable, and has jealously guarded the Treasury. Governor 
Chamberlain would not make this declaration unless he had ample warrant for so 
doing; and no honest man, Republican or Conservative, can hesitate to give full 
credit on this point to the Republican Governor, who, without counting the con- 
sequences an<f looking only to the public good, has stood like a wall of adamant 
between the public robbers and the honest and law-abiding people of the State. We 
are jjrofoundly impressed, we frankly admit,- by Governor Chamberlain's words. We 
believe that through him, and by the line of conduct which he pursues, can the Con- 
servative citizens, as well as the Republicans, attain most quickly and easily that 
reform of abuses and the reduction of taxation which are vastly more important than 
any political victory. And we say to Governor Chamberlain what he says of Treas- 
urer Cardozo : We are not half so anxious to make*riends or avoid enemies as we are 
to do right, and until evidence, facts, compel us to lose faith in Governor Chamber- 
lain, he shall have our confidence and our personal and moral support in every form. 

The attempt to remove Mr. Cardozo was defeated by a union 
of the reform Republicans and the Democrats. The following 
extract makes still plainer the meaning of this incident, and its 
influence. 

[From the Columbia Union-Herald, March 20th.] 

The struggle is over. By an emphatic vote in both houses Mr. Cardozo has been 
sustained. . . . We entered into the fight earnestly, and we have put forth ever}' 
energy to win success. We would be more or less than human not to exult over our 
opponents. To say that the result is a distinct triumph for Governor Chamberlain's 
Administration is to say only what every one knows. But the whole aflair has been 
so significant in all its bearings from first to last that its lessons should once more be 
stated. We do not wish to stir up the passions which have been called out in this 
conflict ; still less do we wish to pronounce every man as false or true, according to 
the side in which he placed himself in this conflict. 

But, speaking generally, we express our conviction, based on what we call knowl- 
edge, that the struggle has been really and distinctly a struggle between honesty and 
corruption, between an effort to restore good government on the one hand, and an 
eflort to perpetuate the disgraceful records of the Scott and Moses administrations on 
the other hand. It is now perfectly apparent that a large section of the Republican 
party regarded the platform and professions of the last campaign as mere baits to 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 8 / 

catch votes. All they wanted of Mr. Chamberlain was a respectable name to cover 
disreputable practices. They really wanted Frank Moses, minus his personal profli- 
gacy and debauchery. Official integrity, public duty, economy in expenditures, com- 
petency in officers, low taxes, all these things they neither desired nor intended to 
permit. 

When, therefore, Governor Chamberlain showed nis determination to stand upon 
the pledges of the campaign, these men marked for vengeance every man who stood 
by him. Conspicuous among these was Mr. Cardozo. To say that these men were 
* moved to any degree by a desire to uphold official integrity is to mock the common 
knowledge of all men here. Plausible grounds existed for the attack. The utmost 
looseness of administration had grown up before Mr. Cardozo entered upon his office. 
Mr. Cardozo had not been able wholly to conduct his office on the highest plane of 
strict and undeviating adherence to the best methods. If he had done so, the storm 
would have come earlier and from opposite causes. These deviations from the strict 
letter of his duties were seized upon by those who desired to crush him for his fidelity. 
It was a perfect illustration of the folly of casting pearls before swine. Those who 
had demanded official looseness and favoritism turned to rend the man whose failings 
had come only from a desire to conciliate the favor of his present enemies by a too 
liberal construction of his duties. 

The plot was well laid and enticing. Under the guise of punishing official mis- 
conduct, they sought really to introduce unbounded official profligacy. The cloak for 
a time concealed the assassin. The Conservatives were led to array themselves against 
the Treasurer and alongside of the Corruptionists ; but the alliance was accidental and 
short-lived ; and we say now, what we have not said in times before, that the Con- 
servatives, in the final yote, have vindicated the purity of their motives, and deserve 
the unqualified approval of all who uphold public morality. 

The blow aimed at Governor Chamberlain has been parried by a combination of 
the true friends of reform. His strength has been immeasurably increased by this 
very struggle. The cause of reform in South Carolina has been promoted by this 
most desperate attempt to crush it out. But the greatest gain of all will be found in 
the freedom with which Mr. Cardozo can now uphold the cause of official integrity. 
The plunderers have done their worst. He can now square accounts with them. He 
can now shake off their importunate demands and their dishonoring contact. Hence- 
forth he will plant himself on the letter of the law. Henceforth he will have no 
favors to show to any man. The disgusting favoritism which these political traders 
have hitherto been able, in some measure, to enforce is forever ended. 





r ,^jxw> 







CHAPTER VIII. 



Closing Days of the Session — The Legislature Persists in Evil Courses — An Accu- 
mulation of Vicious Measures — A Series of Resolute and Effectual Veto Mes- 
sages, 

WHEN the end of the session of the Lef^islature approached, 
the Governor's opponents marshalled their material and 
their forces for making what may be described as an attack upon 
his whole line of reform. Between the 4th of March and the 
1 8th of the same month, the date of adjournment, four bills de 
signed to secure and continue the system of plundering extrava 
gance, which the Governor and both parties were pledged to 
reform, were passed in swift succession. They were all vetoed, 
the messages of disapproval constituting a body of sound doctrine 
and faithful instruction. 

When Governor Chamberlain came into office he discovered 
that throughout the Administration of his predecessor the funds 
of the State had been kept in one depository, the Bank and Trust 
Company, at Columbia, commonly known as " Hardy Solomon's 
Bank." The State's deposit sometimes amounted to more than 
one million dollars. The capital of this bank was $125,000. Mr. 
Hardy Solomon, the principal owner and the manager of the in- 
stitution, was a prosperous business man against whose financial 
credit there were no imputations. He was a Republican, and had 
ingratiated himself in the favor of officials by such accommoda- 
tions as were much desired by State officers and others during the 
prevalence of the peculiar financial methods of the Moses Adminis- 
tration. One of the early acts of Governor Chamberlain was to 
take away the bulk of the State's deposit from Hardy Solomon's 
bank and distribute it among five other institutions, two in 
Columbia and three in Charleston, all having larger capital and 
the reputation of a more conservative management. In this ac- 

ss 



ADMINISTRA TION. 89 

tion he was heartily supported by the State Treasurer, while Judge 
Hoge, then Comptroller General, and almost or quite every leading 
Republican in the State, strongly opposed the proceeding. Of 
course it was not relished by Mr. Solomon, who at that time had 
great influence over a large proportion of members of the Legis- 
lature. The consequence was that the Legislature passed an Act 
requiring all the public funds to be deposited in two designated 
banks in Columbia, one of them Hardy Solomon's. This Act 
the Governor vetoed, sending to the Legislature the following 
message : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, March 12, 1875. 

Hon. R. H. Gleaves, President of the Senate : 

Sir — I return herewith, without approval, an Act originating in the 
Senate, entitled " An Act relative to the deposit of the moneys of the 
State, and other provisions in relation thereto." 

I have carefully considered the provisions of this Act. It is proper 
to say that apparently no influence has been left untried to induce me 
to approve the Act ; and, if personal considerations could be allowed 
by me to influence my action upon such a matter, it would have given 
me pleasure to sign the Act. But I have resolved, and I stand pledged, 
not only to the people of the State, but to my own character and con- 
science, never to allow considerations personal to myself or to indi- 
vidual friends to have weight with me against my convictions of public 
duty. I have accordingly examined this Act solely with reference to its 
effects upon public interests, and under that rule am compelled to dis- 
approve its general scope and its specific details. 

The safe-keeping of the public funds should be made as absolute 
and unquestionable as legislation can make it. Safety is the first re- 
quirement, and should never be made secondary to other considera- 
tions. If the present Act omits a single precaution or safeguard now 
existing, it cannot command approval. 

It will be useful to examine the present law regulating deposits of 
public moneys, in order that we may compare that system with the one 
now proposed in the present Act. The present law, as found in sec- 
tion 50, chapter 17, of the General Statutes, places upon a Board, com- 
posed of the Governor, Comptroller General, and the Treasurer, the 
duty of selecting such banks for the deposit of State funds as the Board, 
or only two of them, may judge, first, to be secure, and, second, shall 
pay the highest rate of interest. 

The Act now before me designates two banks, without qualification 
or requirement regarding their safety, good management, or business 
standing, and requires all State funds to' be deposited in these two 
banks. 

The contrast between the two systems is too broad to escape atten- 



90 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

tion or require designation. In the former system, the three highest 
officers of the State, acting upon their official responsibility, and two of 
them under very heavy bonds for the faithful discharge of their duties, 
are required to select, from time to time, such banks of deposit for 
State funds as they shall deem secure. Opportunity is here afforded 
for the exercise of a reasonable discretion in the selection of the banks 
of deposit, and the keeping in view of the strength and character of the 
banks selected. 

Further than this, and more important than any other consideration, 
is the power given under this system, from time to time, to change the 
banks of deposit whenever causes shall arise which may, in their judg- 
ment, warrant it. 

Under the Act before me all this is changed. Not only are two 
banks designated at the present time as the sole and exclusive deposi- 
tories, but all power on the part of any one, except the General Assem- 
bly, to change the banks of deposit is taken away. The results to 
which such a system leads are simply disastrous and unprecedented. 
If disaster be impending to these two banks, if their officers are known 
to be indulging in wild si)eculations, or even to be fraudulently squan- 
dering the State funds, no public officer can intervene to arrest the dis- 
aster or to mitigate the loss. Nothing short of another Act of the 
General Assembly, involving, perhaps, the assembling of the General 
Assembly in extra session, could enable the State officers to withdraw 
a dollar of money from either of these banks, except in regular pay- 
ment of matured claims against the State. Once deposited, it must 
remain without regard to the strength or conduct of the bank. 

To sanction such a system is to deliberately trifle with the funds of 
the State, and to tempt to the commission of wrongs which may, at any 
moment, bring ruin upon every public interest of the State. 

If the General Assembly, for any reasons satisfactory to them, shall 
choose to place the duty and responsibility of designating the banks of 
deposit for State funds in other hands than those of the present Board of 
State officers, I shall not only not object to such a change, but, as I have 
stated, I for one shall feel that a thankless and most embarrassing duty 
is lifted from my shoulders. I care nothing for the prerogatives of 
my office, except so far as they are essential to the protection of public 
interests, and my short experience in my present office has been long 
enough to cause me to welcome legislation which, without endangering 
public interests, shall set me free from the nearly intolerable burden of 
importunity from personal and political friends. But when I find 
powers designed to be used for the constant protection of the State 
funds, under any emergency or change of circumstances, not only taken 
away, but these powers themselves abrogated, and an unchanging sys- 
tem, incapable of deviation, to meet the most imperious necessities that 
may ever arise, adopted in their stead, it is no longer a question of 
official prerogatives, but of a simple, ordinary, reasonable safe-keeping 
of the funds. I cannot think of consenting to take away all power or 
discretion in the State officers, and compelling the deposit of all State 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 9 1 

funds in banks which the officers of the State may, at the moment of 
deposit, know to be insolvent. 

But the system proposed in the present Act is not more dangerous 
and unreasonable in its general features than in its details. 

The Act not only confines the deposits to two banks under all pos- 
sible circumstances, but it proceeds to designate two banks which, if 
we concede all that can be claimed for them by their officers or patrons, 
have not sufficient pecuniary strength to render them safe depositories 
for all the State funds. 

It is idle to say, in reply to this objection, that the State funds have 
been even more unsafely kept in the past, and no loss has yet occurred. 
What the State requires in such matters is not good luck under a sys- 
tem which daily exposes her to disaster, but the highest possible safety 
under a system which permits the exercise of the prudence and care 
suited to the exigencies which may arise. The State has now on hand 
nearly $1,000,000 in cash. This amount is distributed in three banks 
in Charleston and three in Columbia. The aggregate capital of these 
six banks is over $2,300,000, and yet I venture the opinion that no in- 
dividual in this State, if possessing $1,000,000 in cash, would for one 
moment regard it as safe to place it as general deposits in six banks. 
I further venture the opinion that no man competent to care for his 
own funds would feel warranted in placing $100,000 as a general de- 
posit in each of the two banks designated in the present Act. In say- 
ing this I do not question the character or management of either of 
these banks, but I simply call attention to the fact that it is proposed 
to do with the State funds what no prudent man would for an instant 
think of doing with his own funds. 

It must be remembered, in considering this subject, that the State 
funds are not placed in the banks as special deposits. If the State 
funds were special deposits, we might calculate the strength of the 
vaults or safes of these banks, and the integrity of their officers, and 
thus reach a tolerably safe conclusion. But the State funds, when de- 
posited in these banks, become general deposits, subject to loan and 
investment in the same manner as any other funds of the bank. The 
element of the financial wisdom and prudence in the management of 
the banks becomes, in view of this fact, a matter of prime importance. 
This element is a variable one. The officers and directors of the banks 
are constantly changing, and with such changes come changes in the 
financial standing of the banks and their safety as places of deposit. 

Of all this the Act before me takes no note. The Act allows no 
discretion, and gives no heed to the inevitable changes which banks 
are constantly undergoing. 

The experience of this community may be appealed to to show the 
utter folly of trusting too much to the skill or wisdom of banking insti- 
tutions. In a single day this community has been aroused to the dis- 
tressing fact that a bank holding the aggregate savings of thousands of 
families is hopelessly insolvent. Such events occur in every comn]U- 
nity, not necessarily from the dishonesty or unfaithfulness of those who 



92 " GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

manage these banks, but because the possession of large amounts of 
money tempts to hazardous ventures, in the midst of which the slight- 
est general financial revulsion will cause suspension and bankruptcy. 

For my part, I question most seriously, as an original policy, the 
wisdom or safety of placing our State funds in any banks. Why should 
the State encounter the risks always attendant upon banking operations ? 
Is it for the little interest which accrues on her deposits ? Even that 
is not exacted by the Act now before me. The effect of the Act is, 
that the State, without one dollar of gain to her funds, places them in 
two banks, to be used according to the discretion of those who control 
them. She runs all the risks attending general deposits in bank, and 
receives no reward or gain therefor. Certainly, if such a practice is to 
prevail, the State should have the highest assurance that her funds will 
be ready at her call, and this assurance must rest on the best guaran- 
ties that can be obtained. 

The Act before me requires each bank to give a bond in the penal 
sum of $100,000, to be approved by the Judge of the Fifth Judicial 
Circuit, and this additional security was probably one of the induce- 
ments to the passage of the Act. If such a bond be given, the security 
afforded by the two banks named falls far below the proper security 
for general deposits aggregating at times $1,000,000 of State funds 
alone. Certainly the bonds here required fall far below the security 
afforded to the State by depositing its funds in six banks, the four banks 
not named in the Act having a pecuniary strength more than three 
times as great as that of the banks named, including the additional 
security afforded by the required bonds. What motive, I then ask, can 
the State have for putting all her funds in two banks in preference to 
six banks ? Why should the State exchange the security afforded by 
the four banks not named in the present Act, whose pecuniary strength 
reaches nearly or quite $2,000,000, for that of two banks, whose capi- 
tal stock hardly exceeds $400,000, and whose management is certainly 
not superior to that of the excluded banks ? Why, especially, should 
this be done without even the paltry gain of one dollar of interest on 
all these vast deposits ? 

But, granting all that may be claimed for the feature of the present 
law requiring bonds to be given, there is no provision of the Act which 
affords any assurance that these bonds will be maintained so as to 
afford any real security to the State. No provision is anywhere made 
for any renewal of the bonds, or for keeping good the sureties of the 
bonds. The words are, " That this Act shall take effect so soon as a 
bond, etc., shall be given," etc. Under this provision, the bond may 
be approved and filed to-day, and become worthless to-morrow, and 
yet there would be no method of removing the deposits or requiring a 
new bond. 

The examination now made of the general features of the Act before 
me persuades me, beyond doubt, first, that the designation by statute 
of two banks wlierein shall be deposited all the funds of the State with- 
oift provision for avoiding any disaster or loss which may be foreseen 



ADMINISTRA TION. 93 

trom the dishonesty of bank officials, or the pecuniary weakness of the 
banks, is utterly indefensible and hazardous to the limit of reckless- 
ness ; and secondly, that the designation of the Carolina National 
Bank of Columbia and the South Carolina Bank and Trust Company 
is likewise a policy which cannot be vindicated by the strength or 
standing of these particular banks, as compared with the vast amount 
of the deposits to be committed to them, or with the security now af- 
forded by the six banks among which the State funds are now distrib- 
uted. 

But there are other features of this Act which do not meet my 
approval. I do not approve of that feature which forbids the banks to 
pay any checks of tl^e State not drawn in a particular manner. If it is 
intended to require the State Treasurer to observe any additional regu- 
lations in the drawing of checks on State funds, it should be done di- 
rectly by imposing that duty, with suitable penalties, upon that officer. 
To all such measures of safety I would gladly assent, but I do not con- 
•sider it becoming in the State to place the power of refusing to honor 
the check of the State Treasurer in the hands of any bank. The bank 
is not amenable to the control of the State. No matter how arbitrarily, 
capriciously, or carelessly this power may be exercised by the banks, 
there is nothing short of a repeal of the Act that can control them. 
The enactment of such a provision is practically abdicating the proper 
powers of the State, and allowing them to be transferred to two cor- 
porations. It is a virtual confession that the execution of our laws 
must be transferred from our executive officers and vested in those 
who owe no duties to the general public, and are subject to no censure, 
punishment, or control of the State. 

There is another provision of this Act to which I see grave objec- 
tion. 

Section i requires that all " the moneys to be drawn from the said 
banks shall be drawn therefrom equally." If this provision means 
what it says, it will be practically impossible to execute the law. A 
strict compliance with this provision will require the State Treasurer to 
divide every amount of money required to be drawn into two equal 
parts, and to draw a check upon each bank for one half of the amount 
required. He would not be at liberty at any time to permit the 
amount in one bank to exceed the amount in the other bank by a sin- 
gle dollar. 

The same is true of depositing the funds. They must be deposited 
equally. The smallest sum received must be equally divided between 
the two banks. 

Such provisions as these are serious hindrances to a proper admin- 
istration of the duties of State Treasurer, and find no sanction in rea- 
son or necessity. 

The reasons now stated compel me to withhold my approval from 
this Act, and to urge, with more than usual earnestness, upon the Gen- 
eral Assembly the very grave dangers attending the proposed manner 
of keeping the State funds. No personal or political considerations 



94 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

can have place in determining such a question. The safe-keeping of 
the State funds is a matter of common interest to all our citizens. The 
collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of public funds constitute 
the chief financial duties of the State Government. Each of these 
functions must be exercised with prudence, wisdom, and integrity. If 
either is permitted to free itself from all practicable restraints, the Gov- 
ernment fails in its duty to the people, and disaster will sooner or later 
follow. Very respectfully, 

I). H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

Perhaps the most important of all the vetoes of the session 
was that of a bill for paying the floating debt of the State, com- 
monly called in South Carolina the " bonanza bill," which had 
passed both branches of the Legislature by large majorities, and, 
for reasons that will be obvious, had a powerful and interested 
support outside of the Legislature. It was a scheme to legalize 
and liquidate the uncertain, vast, and, for the most part, corrupt 
obligations which had been incurred and transmitted by the 
previous Administration, and which were described in the Gov- 
ernor's Inaugural Address, and in his special Message of January 
3, 1875.' The action of the Governor caused intense feeling 
throughout the community. More than any thing that had 
previously happened, it disappointed and vexed the corrupt fac- 
tions in politics, while the citizens who desired reform were con- 
firmed in their confidence that the chief magistrate was faithful 
and courageous. The veto message is here given : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, March 17, 1875. 

Hon. R. B. Elliott, Speaker House of Repi-csentatives : 

Sir — I return herewith, without approval, to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in which it originated, an Act entitled " An Act to provide 
for the settlement and redemption of certain claims against the State." 

In refusing to approve this Act it is proper and necessary that I 
should state certain facts connected with the history of the Act. When 
I entered upon my present office it was my purpose to oppose any and 
all plans for the present settlement of any of the various classes of 
claims which constitute the so-called floating indebtedness of the State, 
except the bills of the Bank of the State. This latter class of claims 
having been judicially declared by the Supreme Court of the United 
States to constitute a valid contract with the State, capable of enforce- 

' See pages 19 and 57. 



ADMINISTRATION. 95 

ment by the courts, and actually enforced in the cases before that 
court^^I regarded it as dishonest and scandalous to delay longer to pro- 
vide for meeting those obligations. This class of claims was likewise 
pressing by legal means upon the State, and seemed certain in the near 
future to produce disaster unless timely provision was made for their 
gradual payment. With reference to all other classes of claims, I was 
persuaded that the State had the right, and that her condition justly 
warranted her in postponing settlement until she could recover in some 
degree from the effects of a long course of extravagance and profligacy 
in the expenditure of public funds and the contracting of public obliga- 
tions — at least until we should be able again to pay our current expenses 
during the year in which they arose. I was convinced that the people 
should not be taxed for the present year to an amount beyond the 
actual requrrements of the public service, conducted on an honest and 
economical scale. My efforts were, therefore, mainly directed to the 
work and duty of stopping all unnecessary expenses, and restoring our 
Government to a cash basis in its transactions, leaving the past unset- 
tled claims against the State to await the better times which the course 
indicated would surely hasten. 

Especially did I regard this as the only admissible policy to be pur- 
sued towards those classes of indebtedness which are covered by the 
present Act, because they were believed to be largely tainted with ille- 
gality and frauds. 

I was, however, strongly pressed to consent to some measure look- 
ing to the adjustment of the last-named classes of claims. Finally, 
being convinced by my own observation that some plan would be 
adopted, I turned my attention and efforts towards securing the adop- 
tion of a plan which would afford the best protection to the State and 
be least burdensome to the people. In modifying my policy in this re- 
spect I had the counsel and advice of the best men of both political 
parties, who agreed with me that, under all the circumstances, it was 
wise to endeavor to secure the best possible measure. 

Acting with these aims and views, I gave my consent to a plan which 
embraced, first, the appointment by the Governor of a Commission of 
three, with power to audit all claims of the classes referred to, reject- 
ing in whole or in part any claim presented upon any grounds satisfac- 
tory to them ; second, the reduction of all claims thus approved by the 
Commission to one half of their nominal value ; and third, the payment 
of the claims when thus reduced in four equal annual instalments. 

Persuaded as I was that these claims were largely fraudulent, I re- 
garded that feature of the measure which provided for the appointment 
of the Commission as by far the most vital one. Without a Commis- 
sion whose character and ability would make the examination of the 
claims a work of searching vigilance and unquestionable honesty, the 
measure would be an atrocious and patent fraud. With a proper 
Commission the other features of the measure seemed to me to be 
reasonable. 

Such a measure was introduced in the House of Representatives^ 



9^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

and was passed by that house. In the Senate, for reasons which I have 
not seen explicitly stated, the measure was changed by naming th^ three 
members of the Commission. The names inserted by the Senate were 
changed by the House of Representatives, the changes were concurred 
in by the Senate, and the Act as thus modified is substantially the Act 
which is now before me. 

Recurring now to the circumstances and motives which led me to 
-consent to the measure in its original form, I am compelled to say that 
changes of circumstances have taken place since I was consulted con- 
cerning this measure, sufficient of themselves to warrant an entire 
change of attitude on my part, apart from the complete change made 
by the most essential feature of the measure. The response given by 
the General Assembly to my efforts to enforce a policy of rigid retrench- 
■ment and reform in our public expenditures has not met my expecta- 
tions. The passage of the Legislative Appropriation Act, the failure 
to cut down appropriations to their lowest reasonable limit in the Gen- 
eral Appropriation Act, the defeat of the bill reducing the salaries of 
public officers, and the passage of a multitude of miscellaneous claims 
have rendered it impossible for me to consent to add another dollar to 
the weight of taxation which will now oppress the people of the State. 
In addition to what has been specified, the passage already of Acts for 
the levy of special taxes in no less than fourteen of the counties of the 
State — these special taxes ranging from one and one half mills to three 
mills on the dollar, — and the prospect of the passage of many more 
similar Acts, is sufficient of itself to make my approval of the present 
measure an act, in my judgment, of unpardonable injustice to all those 
Avhose interests I am sworn to protect. 

The supply bill for the present fiscal year has not yet- reached me, 
but as it passed the House of Representatives it provided for taxes 
amounting to eleven and seven tenths mills on the dollar for general 
State purposes. Adding to this in most of the counties six mills for 
regular and special county taxes, and from one to three mills for local 
school taxes, we have an aggregate of taxation wholly without prece- 
dent, as it is without justification. To all this are yet to be added the 
taxes for town, village, and municipal purposes — in some instances 
amounting to more than all the taxes for all other purposes. 

Nothing will induce me to contribute to swell this already intoler- 
able burden of taxation. But if you look at the character of the claims 
covered by this Act, there is nothing in general to commend to favor 
and scarcely to toleration. Included in the vast mass there are, doubt- 
less, honest and just claims. There is no doubt, moreover, that many 
of the present holders of these claims are suffering by the delay in their 
payment. For all such I have profound sympathy, and would gladly 
do any thing reasonable to relieve them. But speaking generally of 
the vast majority of these claims, what are they, and what do they rep- 
resent ? They are, for the most part, the unpaid balance of the certifi- 
cates issued during the last four years, under the guise of legislative 
expenses of various kinds. That certificates for legislative expenses 



ADMINISTRA TION. 97 

have been made the cover for vast frauds no man will dispute. They 
are universally regarded as the last culminating evidences of a prevail- 
ing system of corruption which has disgraced our State and offended 
the nation. The State has already paid on account of such claims an 
aggregate amount which, if we were not familiar with the facts, would 
pass the bounds of belief. 

Since the regular session of the General Assembly for 1870-71, the 
State had paid, prior to the present session, on account of legislative 
expenses, the vast sum of $1,661,000. According to the registry al- 
ready made by the clerks of the two houses, under a recent resolution 
of the General Assembly, there are still outstanding claims of the 
classes embraced by the present Act to the amount of $883,000, of 
which amount over $500,000 consists of claims for legislative expenses. 
Is there never to be an end to the payment of such expenses ? Is the 
fact that such claims are outstanding to be successfully pleaded in 
justification for their payment without regard to the present ability of 
our people ? 

I speak, therefore, with accuracy as well as with justice when I say 
that these claims, as a whole, do not constitute an obligation which the 
State is bound to recognize or liquidate until her honest and valid in- 
debtedness and the annual expenses of her government have been fully 
met. Certainly they cannot, with my consent, be made the occasion of 
a levy of taxes in addition to the unprecedented amount already levied 
for the present year. 

But if I could overlook all other objections to the Act, there re- 
mains one objection which would, under any circumstances, forbid my 
approval of the Act. I mean the character, as a whole, of the Commis- 
sion named in the Act. Upon this point I speak with a reluctance 
which all just men will appreciate ; but I am a public officer, bound to 
discharge an imperative public duty, and while I speak with reluctance, 
I must speak with perfect plainness. The Commission named does not, 
as a whole, command my confidence for the work assigned to it. I am 
equally confident it does not, as a whole, command the confidence of 
the public for that work. The duties required of the Commission de- 
mand the highest character for intelligence, honor, and incorruptibility 
Avhich the State can furnish. By no fault or agency of mine I am 
forced to declare that, in my judgment, the Commission named in the 
Act does not meet that demand. The amounts involved are too 
great, the frauds believed to be involved in the claims to be examined 
are too widespread and pervading, the temptations to collusion and 
bribery are too powerful, to allow me to consent to placing these 
duties in the hands of any man whose circumstances and associations 
excite the faintest doubt of his inflexible determination to stand as 
an insurmountable barrier to the further advances of corruption and 
fraud. 

The views now expressed compel me to withhold my approval of 
the present Act. I should be blind if I had not become fully aware 
that my action will give deep offence to many members of the General 



98 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Assembly. I regret this, but I trust the lesson is nearly learned by all, 
that public duty is my only master. It is not my nature to seek or 
enjoy conflicts, especially with those with whom 1 have had pleasant 
personal or political relations, but there is no loss or failure which I 
seriously dread, except the failure to see my duty and the loss of 
courage to do it. Very respectfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

When this veto was received in the Legislature, there was a 
scene of wrath and confusion. The Union-Herald of the next 
morning said : 

The plunderers, led by Leslie, were full of wrath. Green, Humbert, Hamilton, 
Thomas, Keith, Gantt, etc., were eager to exhibit the intense indignation which filled 
their righteous souls. . . . The opponents of the bill refrained from speaking, 
being convinced that they were strong enough to sustain the veto, with votes to spare. 
The debate came to an unexpected close on the point of order that the bill had been 
retained too long by the Governor, and that it, therefore, had become a law. 

This point of order had reference to the constitutional provi- 
sion that bills not returned to the Legislature within three days 
should become laws without the Governor's approval. In this 
case the Legislature had not been in session on the third day, and 
therefore the bill was not returned until the fourth day. The 
Speaker of the House ruled that the bill had become a law, and 
the ruling was promptly sustained by a vote of sixty-three to 
forty-six ; but, when passion had cooled, the Legislature volun- 
tarily receded from this position, admitted the validity of the 
veto, and passed a second bill, omitting the objectionable features 
of the first one, and it was approved by the Governor. 

One of the Commissioners named in the first bill for deciding 
upon the validity of the claims covered by it, was Mr. Hardy 
Solomon. His name was inserted by an amendment made 
after the Legislature had passed the bill designating his bank 
as one of two in which all the State money should be deposit- 
ed. This is one of the facts which reveal the interdependence 
of the series of measures the Legislature was attempting to 
accomplish. 

The Charleston News and Courier, commenting on the veto 
the next morning, said : 



ADMINISTRATION. 99 

Governor Chamberlain has vetoed the bill to provide for the liquidation of the 
floating debt of the State. In vetoing it he will be, and must be, sustained by every 
honest citizen in and out of the Legislature. The public interests are safe so long as 
Governor Chamberlain continues in his present course. No job will be put upon the 
people so long as Governor Chamberlain's veto is sustained by the General Assembly, 
There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth in Columbia, of course. There will be 
more threats against the Governor. But the Conservatives and honest Republicans 
can see for themselves that the men who contrived the liquidation bill and their 
ring had no other desire than to plunder the people. 

The Columbia Phcenix, the Democratic paper of which Col. 
Pelham was editor, said : 

In this, as in many other instances since his inauguration, he has furnished un- 
questionable proof of the sincerity of his earnest desire for honesty and reform, so 
eloquently and forcibly presented by him during the campaign of last autumn. 

Both parties pledged themselves in the election canvass of 
1874 to abide by the adjustment of the public debt which had 
been reached, and to maintain it as a finality.^ Nevertheless, the 
Legislature undertook to disturb it by establishing new condi- 
tions. The Act for that purpose, passed on the last day of the 
session, was immediately returned with a conclusive disapproval. 
" I, at least, must stand by my pledges," said the Governor, — a 
declaration which conveyed a merited rebuke to those who had 
acted as if they were under no obligation to keep faith with the 
public. The veto message is here given : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, March 26th, 1875. 
Hon. R. H. G/eaves, President of the Senate : 

Sir — I return herewith, without approval, to the Senate in which 
it originated, an Act entitled " An Act to declare the true intent and 
meaning of certain provisions of an Act entitled ' An Act to reduce the 
volume of the public debt, and provide for the payment of the same.'"^ 

The Act entitled " An Act to reduce the volume of the public debt, 
and provide for the payment of the same," has been regarded by the 
public, both within and without the State, as a final settlement of the 
public debt. Whatever differences Qi opinion may have existed re- 
specting the Act as an original measure, the people of the State gener- 
ally, as well as our public creditors, have now acquiesced in it, on the 
ground that it was the best attainable adjustment of the difficult and 
embarrassing questions involved. 

So universal and deep-seated was this feeling, that both political 
parties in the last canvass for Governor and members of the General 

' See sec. 7 of platform, p. 9. 



lOO GOV^EKNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Assembly pledged themselves in their platform of principles to espe- 
cially maintain this settlement of the public debt. 

'f hese pledges are binding on me, and I understand them to require 
me to stand by that settlement as it is, without any change whatever in 
any of its important features and provisions. 

J am compelled, therefore, to bring the present Act to this test : Is 
it in entire harmony with the present settlement of the public debt ? 

By section 2 of the " Act to reduce the volume of the public debt, 
and provide for the payment of the same," the State Treasurer was 
authorized to exchange the coupons upon the bonds mentioned in 
section i of that Act, " which have accrued or will accrue <?;? the first of 
yanuary, 1874," for one half of their nominal value in " consolidation " 
bonds or stocks. 

By section 5 of the same Act the " consolidation " bonds and stocks 
were to be made payable within twenty years from the passage of the 
Act, to be dated yanuary i, 1874, and the first coupon to fall due ytdy i, 

1874. 

It is clear, beyond question, to my mind that these provisions have 
absolutely and finally fixed the first day of January, 1874, as the period 
up to which the old bonds and stocks with their accrued interest are 
to be computed for exchange into the new bonds and stock. The hold- 
ers of old bonds or stocks, by presenting them for surrender and ex- 
change, became entitled to receive " consolidation " bonds or stock 
dated January i, 1874, with a coupon maturing and falling due July i, 
1874. That was the leading feature of the " settlement " — the essen- 
tial element in the offer made by the State to its public creditors. 

Looking now to the Act before me, I find in its first section that all 
this is changed. Under this Act, the first day of yanuary, 1874, is no 
longer the date up to which the computation is to be made prior to the 
reduction of one half in the nominal value of the bonds and stocks, and 
the first day of yuly, 1874, is no longer the date at which the first coupon 
shall fall due. On the contrary, the present Act provides that all coupons 
or interest orders which shall become due ^^ prior to the day on which such 
bonds or certificates of stock shall be tendered for f sending,'' shall be funded 
or exchanged by the holder thereof. 

I cannot well conceive of any more essential change in this " settle- 
ment." Instead of a fixed point of time, we have a constantly varying 
one. Instead of receiving bonds with the first coupons falling due July 
1, 1874, the holder of outstanding bonds will receive bonds with the first 
coupons falling due according to the time when he presents his bonds. 

In addition to the fact of this change, the influence of such a change 
on the particular execution of the " consolidation " Act must be consid- 
ered. I cannot doubt that such a change will greatly retard, if not 
wholly arrest, the process of exchange now going forward with such 
gratifying rapidity. As time passes, and the holders of our unex- 
changed bonds and stocks perceive that no interest is received on their 
bonds while unexchanged, and that there is an accumulation of inter- 
est on the bonds and stocks to which they would be entitled under the 



A DM INI S TRA TION. I O I 

"consolidation " Act, it is manifest that a constantly increasing induce 
ment is held out to them to exchange their bonds and stocks. When 
the accumulation of interest shall have amounted to twelve or fifteen 
cents on the dollar of the new bonds, the most reluctant of the holders 
of the unchanged bonds will find himself compelled by regard to his 
own advantage to make the exchange. 

It should be borne in mind always, in considering this subject, that 
those of our public creditors who bought our bonds at from seventy to 
one hundred cents on the dollar do not look with favor upon a law 
which takes from them one half of their debt, and substitutes for the 
other half a security worth only from fifty to sixty cents on the dollar. 

It will never be possible for the State to recover the confidence of 
such men, or of the public generally, until a long course of undeviating 
fidelity to our new promises shall convince them that we are seeking, 
to the best of our ability, to repair the grievous wrongs of which they 
are the victims. 

I fear that there are some who feel that this subject of our public 
credit is remote and unimportant in its relations to the interest of the 
mass of our citizens. No mistake can be greater. There is not a man 
in South Carolina whose pecuniary well-being is not largely bound up 
with the condition of our public credit. Our vast natural advantages 
of climate, soil, water power, minerals, are waiting for the coming in of 
capital to develop them and enrich all our people. That capital must 
come from abroad. Why does it tarry ? No one cause is so potent as 
the utter wreck which has been made of our public credit. Men who 
have surplus funds will allow them to lie idle rather than invest them 
in a State whose public credit is the sport of the indifference or p'assion 
which rules the hour. Public credit is like personal honor. It feels a 
stain like a wound. It cannot be trifled with. 

Therefore, while the " consolidation " Act was originally a measure 
with which I had no concern, to-day it is the only method open to us 
for recovering" our public credit, and I must stand by it at all times 
and in all its features, and the same obligation rests upon every mem- 
ber of the General Assembly. 

I am aware that it is argued in support of the present Act that 
there are matters of doubt connected with the " consolidation " Act 
which the General Assembly ought to set at rest. It is true, perhaps, 
that the view which I have presented of the intent of the Act may, if 
carried out, prevent any surplus fund from arising with which to extin- 
guish a part of the public debt. If this result were certain, it could 
not change our duty to first pay all interest upon the " consolidation " 
bonds and stocks accruing on and after the time specified in the Act, 
namely, July i, 1874. This is the first duty. If this exhausts the whole 
fund, it will be a result for which we are not responsibl-e, because it will 
arise from a faithful adherence to the terms and meaning of the Act it- 
self. 

But if there are real doubts to be settled upon this point, the jiroper 
place for their settlement is in the courts. The construction of statutes, 



I02 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the interpretation of doubtful terms, the settlement of conflicting inter- 
ests arising under legislative enactments, are properly judicial and not 
legislative functions. The public creditor could not object to an ap- 
peal to the courts, for he holds his rights under his contracts with the 
constant and understood reservation that the courts must, whenever 
doubt arises, construe those contracts. The State could not object to 
such a tribunal, for she professes herself to be bound by the pledge of 
her faith and honor, and she has clothed her courts with the power to 
interpret her duties and to fix her liabilities in all cases, which are prop- 
erly subjects for judicial cognizance. 

There are some changes made by the present Act to which, of them- 
selves, I should make no objection, because they appear to promote the 
general object for which the " consolidation " Act was passed, and could 
not be regarded as impairing the contract established by that Act ; but 
all such changes become absolutely unimportant compared with the 
paramount duty and interest of standing by that Act in its integrity 
and entirety as a final and complete settlement of our public debt. If 
I could agree with the declarations made in the first section of the 
present Act, I should still deprecate its passage, because the inevitable 
effect of any change whatever in the " consolidation " Act will be to 
unsettle the returning confidence felt by our creditors, and to seriously 
retard the completion of the work of exchanging our public debt, which 
is so essential to all our prosperity. When, however, the present Act 
goes so far as to change the most essential feature of the " consolida- 
tion " Act, I have no alternative. I, at least, must stand by my pledges 
and maintain the settlement as made by the Act of December 22, 1873. 
Very respectfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



The annual Tax and Supply Bill as it passed the Legislature and 
was presented to the Governor, not only disregarded his earnest 
solicitations to economy and the reduction of expenses within 
the limit of annual income, but it comprised cunning provisions 
for accomplishing the objectionable purposes of several bills al- 
ready vetoed, employing the artful device, not unknown in other 
States and in Congress, for forcing an Executive to consent to 
legislation to which he is inimical, by making it impossible for 
him to prevent it without at the same time deranging the ma- 
chiner}- of administration by a stoppage of supplies. It was a 
serious situation, but the Governor did not flinch. Embarrassing 
as the condition must become with no appropriations for the 
whole year, the Governor, after much deliberation, determined 
that he would not give his approval to the bill. By the Consti- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



103 



tution he was permitted, in case of the adjournment of the 
Legislature before the expiration of the three days within which 
bills might be returned unsigned, to hold such bills until the third 
day of the following session. The veto message, therefore, was 
not sent to the Legislature until it reassembled, and will be found 
in a subsequent chapter ' ; but the Governor's intention with re- 
spect to the bill soon became known, and was recognized by 
friends and foes as an additional proof of his consistency and in- 
flexible resolution. 

' Chapter XII. 





CHAPTER IX. 

The Situation at the Close of the First Session of the Legislature — Nineteen Effec- 
tual Vetoes by the Governor — Remarkable Revolution in Opinion Wrought by 
the Governor's Course — The Charleston News and Courier Acknowledges that 
its Former Judgment of the Governor's Character was Mistaken — The Voice of 
the Press of South Carolina and Other States — Letters of Professor Richard T. 
Greener and Hon, Amasa Walker. 



THE three and a half months since the Legislature met and 
its members listened with surprise to Governor Chamber- 
lain's Inaugural Address had been a period of strenuous and often 
bitter contest, of which only the salient and significant features 
have been presented. Upon the leader in the reform movement 
rested grave responsibilities, and it was neither by luck nor on 
account of the weakness of his opponents that he was able to 
frustrate their well-laid plans. The right does not win its victories 
over organized wrong except by superior force and skill in the 
fighting. The forces hostile to the Governor's policy were ably 
marshalled and led. Among his opponents were adepts in the 
arts of political organization, intrigue, manoeuvre and attack ; 
politicians much better adapted by temperament, sympathy, and 
address to cozen the favor of the citizens who constituted the 
majority of ofificials and of voters in the Republican party, than 
was the serious, cultured, reflective gentleman, of dignified and 
refined manners, whose only apparent passion in public affairs was 
devotion to an ideal of public duty imposing severe labor, constant 
self-denial, and relentless thwarting of " good fellows " whose fault 
was a disposition to make politics profitable. 

During this session Governor Chamberlain vetoed nineteen 
bills. Although several of them on their passage had a support 
indicating that a veto would be in vain, it is a remarkable fact 

104 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. I O 5 

that in no case did his opponents secure the two-thirds vote 
necessary to pass a bill notwithstanding the disapproval of the 
Executive. Every one of the measures was abandoned, or was re- 
vised and passed in a form that avoided the Governor's objec- 
tions. As far as the consummated legislation of the session was a 
test, he had obtained conspicuous success in the development of 
his policy. In spite^of a hostile intention, the Legislature had 
been compelled to serve the cause of reform. Throughout the 
country' the " new departure " in South Carolina was regarded 
with a satisfaction hardly less than that of the relieved citizens of 
the State, and, almost without a discordant voice, the Governor's 
exemplary fidelity was confessed and praised, while unfavorable 
prejudices which had been fostered by partisan malice and mis- 
understanding were renounced, as his true character revealed itself 
under crucial tests. It did not escape the notice of men desiring 
to be just, that here was one whose conduct defied and taunted 
all the corrupt elements in politics to reveal any connivance with 
them that would humiliate or embarrass him, who yet bore him- 
self as having a conscience void of such offence and unable to 
make him a coward in the performance of public duty. In truth, 
there had been wrought within the short space of four months, by 
the signal potential services of one hitherto misunderstood and un- 
appreciated, a notable revolution in the affairs of South Carolina. 
Despair was succeeded by hope, distrust yielded to confidence, 
disparagement was turned to praise. 

How general this happy revulsion of feeling was, will be clear 
from the quotations from representative journals that are given 
herewith. The concurring judgment of observers so variously 
situated and so independent of each other, having no common 
motive or interest except the instinctive respect of good citizens 
for things honorable and of good report in all public business, 
makes these contemporaneous expressions not only a valuable but 
an essential part of the record. With some which were published 
about the time of the adjournment of the Legislature, are given 
some that preceded that event and some that came later, but ob- 
viously all are founded upon the conditions already developed. 
Belonging to the latter class is the following article from the 
Charleston News and Courier of May 14, 1875 : 



I06 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

GOV. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Republican Governors in the South have so bad a character that it is difficult for 
the public to believe that any one of the number can be honest, capable, and fear- 
less in the discharge of his duty. Especially is this the case in South Carolina, 
where the Governor is a latter-day citizen, a native of Nev^' England, and an ex-officer 
of the Federal Army, and was an office-holder during four years when wholesale 
stealing by public officers was the rule and not the exception. Nevertheless Governor 
Chamberlain has satisfied the masses of the people in this State that he is as true as 
steel, in the fight against public dishonesty which he began upon his installation and 
continues to this very day. 

This newspaper, as the public know, was Mr. Chamberlain's stoutest opponent 
during the canvass of last fall. It is due to the News and Courier that the movement 
against Mr. Chamberlain, which in the beginning had no life or force, swept like a 
wave over the hills and plains of South Carolina, and engulfed three fourths of the 
expected Republican majority. We knew of what we spoke ! When, therefore, Mr. 
Chamberlain in his Inaugural Message promised a reduction of expenses, and declared, 
in substance, that he would have " two clean years " in South Carolina, we were not 
ready to jump to the conclusion that he would do what he said. We remembered that 
for four years he was Attorney General ; that he was a member of the Financial 
I Board, and the Sinking P'und Commission, and the like ; that he did not raise his 
j voice in protest, if he knew the State was being robbed, that he must have been, as 
' far as we could see, so weak as to sacrifice his convictions of right to personal friend- 
ship or party interest, or so blind and deaf, in public life, as to be unfitted to hold 
any high office of trust. These things could not be forgotten ; but there was a ring 
of the true metal in Gov. Chamberlain's words, and faithful to the pledge that we 
would judge every man by his acts and according to his works no obstacle was placed 
in Gov. Chamberlain's path. On the contrary, we said, and the public sustained us 
in saying it, that, as far as promises went, the Inaugural Address was all that could be 
desired, that the new Executive should have a fair field, and that the Conservatives 
would stand by him just as long as his acts squared with his words. 

At the first opportunity, when the election of a judge for the Charleston Circuit 
took place. Governor Chamberlain broke away from the corrupt members of his own 
party, and accomplished the election of an unobjectionable Republican in place of the 
blatant and corrupt colored man who was the party candidate. Only once did Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain make the slightest concession to the vicious element in the Legis- 
lature. This was when he approved the first legislative appropriation bill. When- 
ever any corrupt measure raised its head in the Legislature, Governor Chamberlain 
struck at it. Whenever any stealing bill passed he vetoed it, and his veto was sus- 
tained. The veto of the infamous bonanza bill was his last act, but the extravagant 
appropriation bill, passed just before the adjournment, has not been signed, and will 
not be. In a word, it is due to Mr. Chamberlain that, for the first time in six years, 
there was no considerable stealing during the legislative session, and that not one 
swindling bill became a law. The session of 1874-75 was far from being pure, but 
it was a vast improvement on any thing that the State has seen since Reconstruction. 
We do not speak of Governor Chamberlain's scholarly messages, of his patriotic 
utterances, of his unfailing tact and courtesy. We speak only of his acts. By them 
we judge him. In the light of his acts, since he has been Governor, we say now that. 



/ 



ADMINISTRATION. lO/ 

however much appearances were against him, it is morally impossible that he should 
have been either facile or corrupt. Such a man as he is can never have been the man 
we did believe him to be. Governor Chamberlain, therefore, richly deserves the con- 
fidence of the people of this State. The people of South Carolina, who have all at 
stake, who see and hear what persons outside of the State cannot know, are satisfied 
of Governor Chamberlain's honesty. They believe in him, as well they may. 

No one doubts that Governor Chamberlain is a man of ability and foresight. 
When he determined to oppose a square front to corruption in whatsoever guise, he 
knew that he must, on that, cut loose from the rogues who ruled the Republican 
party up to the time of his election, and that upon him would be poured out the sev- 
enty and seven vials of wrath. It would have been supreme folly to provoke their 
hate if there was any thing in his previous conduct that could expose him to ignominy 
and public shame. And he knew, also, that if the Conservatives did not stand by 
him, he would be ground to dust between the upper and nether stones of conservatism 
and rascality. This, to him, was a terrible risk ; for he could not have understood, 
as he now understands, the liberality and good faith and downright hard sense of the 
Conservative masses. By and with the aid of the Conservatives, Governor Chamber- 
lain and the small band of honest Republicans defeated the thieves in every engage- 
ment. But the men whom he has thrown down, and who did not want or expect 
reform, are wild with rage and despair. They feel that only the first shock has been 
felt ; that a legislative session in which there was no considerable stealing will be fol- 
lowed by sessions in which economic and intelligent legislation will prevail ; that the 
condemnation of crime will be followed by the prosecution and conviction of crimi- 
nals. Knowing that Governor Chamberlain stands well with the nation and not with 
this State alone, they strive to break him down by casting doubts upon his candor and 
integrity. Senator Patterson undertakes to disabuse the President of the idea that 
■ Mr. Chamberlain, in comparison with Scott and Moses, is as Hyperion to a Satyr, and 
vagabond newspaper correspondents fill such newspapers as will accept their letters 
with injurious untruths about the Governor and his supporters. One of these cor- 
respondents we have already exposed ; another has sprung up in Charleston to aid in 
the congenial work. The New York 6'z<« believes what these correspondents say, 
and the Washington Stai- boldly asserts that ex-Treasurer Parker will never be prose- 
cuted to conviction if Governor Chamberlain's influence can save him. The plain 
meaning of this is that Governor Chamberlain was a party to the frauds of 1868-72, 
and, therefore, dare not prosecute any of the officers who are accused of committing 
them. 

We have endeavored to show that appearances were against Mr. Chamberlain up 
to the time of his election as Governor, and that the opposition to him, in the light 
we then had, was proper and necessary. We have weighed his conduct since Novem- 
ber last with the care with which we weighed what we knew of his conduct in the first 
four years after Reconstruction ; and, against any positive or negative fault as Attor- 
ney General, we set the grand work he has done as Governor. We would be willing 
to condone any thing in his past conduct that fell short of actual criminality. But 
this is not necessary ! It is our fixed belief that Mr. Chamberlain has never, in great 
things or little, consented to, or aided in, any fraud upon this people. 

We are confident that, whenever all the facts shall be known, the record of Attor- 
ney-General Chamberlain will be found to be every whit as clean as the record of 



I08 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Governor Chamberlain. And there is only one way in which the facts can be made 
manifest. We say to the correspondents of the New York Sun and the whole tribe 
of slanderers, that if they will make their charges under their own name, and prove 
themselves to be trustworthy and unprejudiced, if they will give to their charges a 
shape in which they can be met, we will demand that the accusations shall be fairly 
met, as we know Governor Chamberlain can meet them. This is a challenge to the 
anonymous crew who cringe to Governor Chamberlain to-day, and lie about him to- 
morrow. It is a challenge that, if they are honest themselves, they must accept. 
And, until the challenge is accepted and the truth of the charges is proved, we have 
a right to expect that the press of the country will not, any of them, stab South Caro- 
lina in the back by lending their aid and influence to the persons who malign the 
only Republican officer of eminent abihty, eminent culture, and eminent integrity, 
that the North has given to this people. 

The following extract from an editorial article in the Kingstree 
(S. C.) Star, a Democratic weekly paper, is in the same vein ; it 
was published April 21, 1875, nearly a month earlier than the 
article in the Netvs and Courier. 

It is well known we opposed Governor Chamberlain's election. We did not do so 
because he was a Republican, for his opponent, whose election we advocated, was 
also a Republican, but because his connection with the Scott Administrations, in the 
responsible positions of Attorney General and ex-officio member of various important 
boards, was such as to cause us to lack confidence in his integrity and honesty. We 
never doubted his ability, intellectually, to fill the gubernatorial chair. We confess 
we had no confidence in his high-sounding words of promised reform made in his cam- 
paign speeches and letters, for our people had so often been gulled by similar utter- 
ances on the part of his predecessors in the executive office, that we apprehended it 
was the same old story — reform, retrenchment, economy, and honesty — till the elec- 
tion was over, and then extravagance, corruption, plunder, and dishonesty afterwards. 
But we confess we have been agreeably disappointed. We have carefully watched 
Governor Chamberlain and his every public action and movement of which we could 
be infonned and form a judgment at this distance from Columbia, and we cannot at 
this writing recall a single instance in which he has not made good, or attempted to 
make good as far as he could under the Constitution, the pledges made by him before 
his election. This is broad and sweeping language, but we think it is none too much 
so. Truth, consistency, and fair dealing demand it, and we make the statement 
cheerfully and without hesitation. 

But not all the conservative papers in South Carolina were so 
cordial in their treatment of the Governor's efforts ; there were 
exceptions, two or three, — partisans reluctant to confess that any 
good could come out of the Republican party, or that any Repub- 
lican could be honorable and sincere even when doine the best 
things for the State. Of these the Anderson Intelligeticer was, 
perhaps, the most able and persistent. The character of this criti- 



A D MINIS TEA TION. 1 09 

cism and the manner in which it was met by the RepubHcan 
supporters of Governor Chamberlain are fairly illustrated in the 
following article from the Columbia Union-Herald. 

We print to-day an article from the Anderson Intelligencer which is so supercilious 
and impertinent in tone, and so illogical in its conclusions, that it seems to call for 
comment from us. It assumes an attitude toward Gov. Chamberlain and his friends 
entirely unwarranted by the condition of parties in this State. While pretending to 
great magnanimity of bearing, the intense partisanship of the writer is irrepressible. 
Gov. Chamberlain has not asked for the exhibition of any magnanimity, but has him- 
self given a proof every day since his election that that admirable quality is a part of 
his character. He has paid back the virulent attacks of a long campaign by a calm 
and steadfast effort to show that his pledge that he would be a Governor of the people 
was not a mere political campaign promise. The admission that honesty and econ- 
omy have not only been " the watchwords of his Administration," but that they have 
" borne fruits " in checking a shameful reign of official corruption, at the risk of los- 
ing the support of many powerful party supporters, is not one which he is called upon 
to be effusively thankful for. His acts speak for themselves, and will be the tests by 
which he will be tried before the great inquest of the people of the State, irrespective 
of party. 

The Ititelligencer x&iViSes to "blindly pledge allegiance to his political fortunes," 
or trammel itself with " unbounded promises of support in the future." May we ask 
to'whom it would be wise to pledge such allegiance, and whether it is ever safe to 
promise unbounded support in the future ? We would not do it to any man. No 
man asks it of the Intelligencer or of us. 

This patronizing tone must be offensive to the self-respect of any man, except a syco- 
phant by nature. It is unworthy of those who assume it, and it is derogatory to the char- 
acter of the man toward whom it is directed. Suppose Mr. Chamberlain were to say to 
the Conservatives : You are now behaving very well ; you are treating your Republican 
fellow-citizens with tolerable fairness ; you are creating no disturbances, are threat- 
ening no lives, have abandoned night-riding, whipping, and Ku-Kluxing for political 
opinions ; but I require more evidences of contrition for the outrages of 1870-71 
before I will believe that your present attitude is not assumed from motives " not less 
selfish than those of the generality of ambitious and aspiring men in public life." 
Such an utterance would be resented, and properly, as insolent and uncalled for. 
But it would be just as much called for by the facts as is the tone habitual with 
certain Conservative newspapers when speaking of the Governor and his friends. 

The Intelligencer sdijs that " the brief history of his Administration clearly proves 
that political opponents saved him from inglorious defeat on more than one occasion. " 
The way we read the history of the past six months, it appears equally fair for us to 
say that the Governor has, on more than one occasion, saved the Conservative, tax- 
paying citizens of the State from overwhelming disaster. 

It says again : ' ' We will never consent to ignore the fact that triumph over thieves 
was made possible only through the support of the Conservatives." Can we not say 
that the triumph of honest men was only possible because they had the aid of an able 
and upright Republican Governor? What could the seven Conservatives in the 
Senate and the thirty in the House have accomplished without him ? 



no GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

But we deprecate such eagerness to win for a man or a party political capital from 
acts of simple duty. We perceive nothing in the Governor's course or character to 
justify the insinuation that if he thought it to his political advantage he would play 
the rascal ; and we could be equally false to assert that the Conservative minority in 
the Legislature would be willing to reap political advantage by joining hands with 
corruptionists to oppress and plunder the people. We try to see in the future only 
the redemption of the State from misgovernment, to be attained by means of unity 
among all classes of good citizens to sustain what is right and to attack and defeat 
what is wrong. Party advantages we hope to make only an incidental question. 
We do not expect to abandon any political conviction, but long for the day when our 
citizens of each party may approach the polls and vote for candidates of their choice 
without feeling that the success of their opponents will be either destructive of the 
material interests of the State or perilous to the rights and liberties of any class of the 
people. We believe that Mr. Chamberlain is working to that end, and that neither 
the active attacks of the base men in his own party, nor the suspicions and detractions 
of the other, will cause him to falter in the course he has marked out. 

The following extracts are all from South Carolina Democratic 
papers. 

Governor Chamberlain has vetoed the bill lately passed by the Legislature for 
the settlement of the floating debt of the State. We publish this veto in full. It 
is a paper nobly conceived and nobly expressed. To say less would be simply 
churlish. . . . This bill proves that the thieves want our blood ; and this veto proves 
that Governor Chamberlain is our only hope. — Edgefield Advertiser. 

From his Inaugural down to the present time the (jovernor has stood squarely and 
firmly upon the platform upon which his party placed him. But those who were to 
assist him, to stand by him and carry out the pledges of that platform and fulfil its 
promises — where are they to-day? Failing utterly in their legislative capacity to 
carry out the wholesome and needed reforms recommended so earnestly by the Ad- 
ministration — throwing every possible obstacle in the pathway of reformation — the 
language of their conduct plainly says we intended to deceive the people. The lan- 
guage of the Governor, so far, has been that his Administration shall not be a living 
lie. For this we honor and admire him. . . . The people of this county will give 
him united support in any and all efforts to make his Administration a success, in 
advancing the best interests of the State, and their full sympathy in the trying fight 
lie is making against the thieves and practical traitors of his party. — Spartan. 



Thus far the course pursued by Governor Chamberlain has met with the approval 
of all unprejudiced people in the State. He has shown the determination to put 
down fraud and corruption, and not to lend himself for an instant to schemes of rob- 
bery, wrong, and injustice. With the turbid waves of corruption seething all around 
him he stands, like a rock, firm and immovable. — Darliugton Sotttherner. 



We highly commend the boldness of the Governor in not hesitating to interpose 
his veto power whenever he deemed that interposition necessary for the public wel- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 1 1 1 

fare. And at the close of this first session of the Legislature we take pleasure in say- 
ing to him : " Well done, good and faithful servant." And we are the more willing 
to say this because we had gloomy forebodings of the results of his election. We 
find in him thus far one Republican who fulfils his promises. — Wiiisboro Neivs. 



We print to-day a batch of good news from Columbia, i. Governor Chamberlain 
has decided not to sign the iniquitous thirteen-mill tax bill for 1875-76 . . . The 
General Assembly will, by the time that they re-assemble, understand the temper of 
the people better than they did when they adjourned last month. Low taxation 
must be had. Those who are opposed to it will do well to stand from under. 2. 
Dennis, of furniture fame, has been removed by Governor Chamberlain, and Col. 
Parmele appointed in his stead. The new Superintendent of the Penitentiary will 
have no fellow-feeling to make him wondrous kind with thieves or felons ; for he is, 
we are told, a highly respectable and thoroughly upright man, although a late arrival 
from the North. 3. The Bonanza men are desperate enough to seek for a mandamus 
to compel the Commissioners to act. Are they coy ? We doubt it. But when they 
have been constrained to serve, if they ever shall be, the work of plundering the 
State will only have begun. The United States Court has control over the bonanza 
bill, and that court is incorruptible. For the removal of Dennis and for the killing 
of the tax bill the public must thank Gov. Chamberlain, who also is at the bottom of 
the flank movement on the bonanza men in the United States Court. Two years of 
such noble work as this will cause him to be hailed as the savior of South Carolina. 
— Neivs and Courier. 



Well has Daniel H. Chamberlain redeemed the promise that he so eloquently and 
earnestly made — that if elected to be chief magistrate of South Carolina, he would be 
the Governor of the whole people, and for the strict performance of which he is 
entitled to the thanks of all. — Marion Merchant and Farmer. 



The truth is. Gov. Chamberlain, like all reformers, has a hard fight before him. 
The difficulties of his position are manifold, requiring high courage and great sagacity. 
A Republican, he is fighting the frauds of his party within his party, and has to con- 
tend against all the plunderers of that party. It is very evident that the Republican 
party is split ; there are two distinct wings. One wing acts from principle and a 
desire to have an honest administration of public affairs, due respect being had to 
constitutional limitations and restrictions. The other wing is radical, and acts solely 
with a view to party success and for selfish purposes. Political principle and consti- 
tutional limitations are alike disregarded, if either or both stand in the way of party 
triumph or a pecuniary speculation. The Governor, in all his utterances since his 
inauguration, has given the highest proof of a determined purpose not to lend his aid 
to any scheme of fraud, peculation, or constitutional violation. — Barnwell Sentinel. 



At the May session of the Circuit Court, in Fairfield County, 
the grand jury, composed equally of Democrats and Republicans, 
said in their report : " We congratulate the State upon the wise 
and just Administration of Gov. Chamberlain." 



112 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

From the mass of encouraging comment in papers published 
in other States the following selections are made as being fairly 
representative of the prevailing sentiment : 

We do not know how Governor Chamberlain's contest with these people will end, 
but we can assure him of the sympathy of honest people all over the Union, as one who 
is really defending civilization itself against barbarism in its worst form. — JVew York 
Nation (Ind.). 



Before the election of Governor Chamberlain of South Carolina we avowed a want 
of confidence in his integrity. We take pleasure in saying now that his conduct in 
office has been such as to make us feel that we were wrong in distrusting him. He 
has set his face like a flint against the corruptionists of his party, thereby earning 
their hatred, and commending himself to the confidence of those who opposed his 
election. There has been a great improvement in the affairs of the State under his 
Administration, and if he goes on as he has begun, every honest man in the State 
will be in favor of his re-election. — C/iristian Union (Boston). 



Governor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, by his honesty and boldness, is making 
a grand reputation for himself. He vetoes rascally measures, puts his foot upon cor- 
ruptionists, and holds it down. — Cincinnati Gazette (Rep.), 



Governor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, is winning golden opinions from all 
sorts of people for his just and able course in that State. Every thing seems to be 
going on well there under his management, and the conservative people are giving 
him their hearty support. This is the true road to reconstruction and peace after 
all. — Richmond (Va.) Enquirer (Dem.). 



Having put his hand to the reform plough, Governor Chamberlain, of South 
Carolina, is driving a very straight furrow, and he shows no disposition, thus far, to 
look back. — Springfield {)s\2&<i,.) Reptiblican (Ind.). 



The Republican Governor of South Carolina has been working wonders for the 
State he represents. His recent action in vetoing the tax bill has given a tremendous 
spur to South Carolina securities, no less than $10,000 worth having been purchased 
in Augusta yesterday on the strength of confidence restored. South Carolina stood 
foremost in the ranks of the South before the war in commercial credit. It would be 
a singular coincidence if a man whose party had plunged her into degradation should 
pull up her financial honor by its drowning locks. — At(gnsta (Ga.) Constitutionalist 
(Dem ). 



It is time that the negroes who have been disgracing their race, them- 
selves, and American institutions by their reckless venality should learn that stealing 
must stop somewhere. The Republican party has done every thing it could for the 



A DAI IN! S TRA TION. 1 1 3 

South Carolina people, and the latter have repaid this kindness by inflicting 
grave and lasting harm upon the party but for which they would now be things, not 
men, mere chattels, sold at the auction-block, without a right recognized by the law. 
If Governor Chamberlain's veto (of the bonanza bill) is not sustained, he can console 
himself by reflecting that adverse action by the South Carolina Legislature, as by the 
Chicago Common Council, is a proof of the merits of the thing condemned. — Chicago 
Tribmie (Rep.). 



It is worth while to note that this era of good feeling and charitable disposition 
has been brought about without any yielding of principle or flrmness on the question 
of equal rights by Governor Chamberlain. But what is most significant is that, as 
soon as the white citizens of the State obtained their right to good government, there 
was an end of reports of outrages and calls upon the general government for interfer- 
ence to sustain the Republican State Government, such as were frequent under the 
corrupt regime of Moses. While the people of South Carolina were plundered and 
harassed by an Administration of scoundrels, they were as unreconciled and trouble- 
some as the white people of Louisiana are now. When their just rights were re- 
spected, they forthwith respected the rights of others. — Boston Advertiser (Rep.). 



Two valuable personal judgments upon Governor Chamber- 
Iain's course and the state of things in South Carolina are here 
given. The first is contained in a letter to the Boston Coinmon- 
ivealth by Richard T. Greener, a widely-known representative of 
the colored race graduated from Harvard College, whose sympa- 
thies, naturally, were all with his people. 

. . I was in the hall of the House of Representatives when the Governor- 
elect took the oath of office and delivered his Inaugural. . . . Officers of the 
army. Conservative editors and politicians. Grangers and Tax-Unionists, were all on 
hand to hear what this Governor that Massachusetts had sent to South Carolina had to 
say. They were sceptical and sullen at first, but I noticed that from careless interest 
there arose an intenser feeling ; and when some of the clean-cut sentences rang out 
unmistakably for reform the applause from the Democratic side was emphatic and 
hearty — much more so, perhaps, than from the side of the Radicals — myself among 
the number — who fear, somehow instinctively, that " reform," after all, means to take 
power from the hands of the negro, no matter how sincere its advocates may be. As 
I thought then, and many agreed, the message seemed to concede almost all the Con- 
servatives had said, and resembled somewhat a Jeremiad. The course of events since 
has changed that opinion, and I now think that such a line did more to shut the 
mouths of the insincere Conservatives and assure the honest grumblers than any less 
pronounced advocacy of reform would have done. It certainly silenced the batteries 
which were ready, both in the Assembly and in the press of the State, to open upon 
the Republican party. Subsequent events have proved the honesty of the Governor 
and his fixedness of purpose in the resolution he has taken. Many say he is 
swayed only by a desire to ingratiate himself with the conservative element, and thus 



114 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

either be re-elected, go to the United States Senate, or look to higher honors on a 
broader field. In any event, his ability and well-known record render any such re- 
sult not improbable, and not at all to be scouted at as a heinous offence, especially if 
the people so will it ; while those who are opposed to any such exaltation of a worthy 
Republican have the onus to show and prove that he is ambitious at the expense of 
principle. It makes little difference who gets honors or ofiices at the South, provided 
only impartial liberty, equal and exact justice, is preserved, and every man has a 
chance, without fear and without favor, to be in every sense a man in the land of his 
birth. Underneath all the questions of reform, good government, just taxation, 
negro supremacy, lie deeper and more fundamental issues. The minor ones are of 
trifling import if those upon which republican government rests are maintained. The 
latter are the Palais Royale which must be saved at all hazards. 

Hon, Amasa Walker, of Massachusetts, a man whose conspic- 
uous ability and high character ijive unusual value to his utter- 
ance, having, on account of his health, spent much time in South 
Carolina, wrote a letter (March 23, 1875,) to the Springfield (Mass.) 
Republican, from which the following passage is taken : 

Governor Chamberlain was elected by the Republican party, has a majority in both 
branches of the Legislature, and it would seem, at the first blush, that his position 
was an eligible one and that he need find little difficulty in conducting the affairs of 
the Government ; yet no man, in the whole history of the Reconstruction movement, 
has been surrounded by more embarrassing circumstances. This is owing to the 
character of the Administrations that have immediately preceded his own. They 
were corrupt to a most appalling extent, had wasted the revenues of the State, and 
plunged it into almost hopeless bankruptcy. And all this was done by his own party, 
and, to no small extent, by the ring men in concert with whom he must act in con- 
ducting its legislative and financial affairs. His enemies are those of his own house- 
hold if he should undertake to stem the fearful tide of corruption, and be honest and 
just ; yet, if we may judge from what he has already accomplished, he has been 
determined from the outset that nothing should be done, so far as he could prevent it, 
injurious to the best interests of his adopted State. 

Thus far he has succeeded admirably, and given assurance that his Administration 
is to be conducted for the benefit of the country rather than the advantage of official 
thieves. Should he be able, as it is confidently expected he will, to execute his inten- 
tions, it will be an important event, not only to South Carolina, but to other States 
that have, like her, suffered excessively from the faithlessness of their public servants. 
Governor Chamberlain offends a certain class, but, of course, gives high satisfaction 
to those who desire, above all things, the promotion of the best interests of the State, 
and we hear on all sides high and hearty commendations of the course he has thus far 
pursued. From present appearances he will, at the end of his two years' term, have 
the approbation and thanks of the great body of the citizens of both parties. Should 
this be the case, the moral and political effect upon the whole country will be very 
great. If a Yankee, born and bred in New England, should show himself, in the 
exalted station of Governor, an honest and fearless man, fully bent upon advancing in 
the highest degree the welfare of a Southern State, and successful in doing so, it need 
not be said that it would exert a very happy influence upon the entire nation. 



CHAPTER X. 

Social, Literary, and Patriotic Festivals — Letters to the New England Society of 
Charleston — Letter to Richard Briggs, of Boston, Commending a Patriotic Ser- 
vice — Address at the Centennial Celebration of the Battle of Lexington — 
Letter to the German Fusiliers of Charleston — Comment of the News and 
Courier — Letter Declining an Invitation to Deliver an Address before the Liter- 
ary Societies of Erskine College — Address at the Celebration of the Centennial 
of the Mecklenburg (N. C.) Declaration of Independence — Presentation of 
Colors to the Washington Light Infantry — Oration before the Law School of 
Yale College — Appointment of Commissioners to Further the Representation of 
South Carolina in the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia — Address before the 
Barnwell County Agricultural Society — Oration at Greenville (S. C.) on the 
Occasion of the Award of the Whitsitt Prizes. 



THE change wrought in the feeling toward the Governor of the 
citizens who were not of his pohtical party was manifested in 
various expressions of respect and cordiaHty, often assuming the 
form of an earnest solicitation to take a prominent part on public 
occasions Avhich had no direct connection with the business of the 
State. The record of Governor Chamberlain's Administration 
would lack not only completeness, but a quality of essential 
justice, if it omitted becoming mention of his distinguished and 
honorable performance of the non-administrative duties which are 
imposed on a chief magistrate, in his character of representative 
first citizen of the Commonwealth. 

Until the end of the session of the Legislature he permitted 
no inducement, however tempting, to divert his energy from the 
work he had undertaken. Soon after his term began, he was in- 
vited to attend the meeting of the New England Society in 
Charleston, in celebration of the anniversary of the landing of the 
Pilgrims at Plymouth. In the reply which he made to the invita- 
tion to be present and respond to the sentiment " The State of 
South Carolina," he confessed the pleasure and pride he would 
feel in doing that service, if he were not compelled to remain at 

"5 



Il6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

his post of duty, and in the following passage, he indicated the 
thought which the occasion inspired in him : 

If I had been permitted to respond for the State of South Carolina 
at your festival, I should have said that I, a son of the Pilgrims of New 
England and loyal in every fibre of my being to their memory, could 
look with pride, hardly less than if native-born, upon the high qualities 
which have marked the people of this State in all the varying fortunes 
through which they have passed — their early self-denial, their revolution- 
ary patriotism, their brilliant record in the subsequent national coun- 
cils, their devoted valor in the more recent struggle of arms, and their 
unwavering fortitude amidst the trials of misfortune and defeat. I 
should have said that from such elements of character, fixed and in- 
spired by such a history, South Carolina, laying aside whatever was an- 
tagonistic to true progress in her former local institutions, and resting 
now on the broad foundation of perfect civil equality, will in the near 
future re-assert her supremacy in our great sisterhood of States. I 
know the sons of the Pilgrims of New England who are with us 
will not dishonor their sires by a weak succumbing before present dis- 
couragements. Faith in the invincibility of a good cause was the secret 
of our fathers' success. In that sign we may again conquer. In the 
restoration of good government to this State let us resolve to bear an 
honorable part, thereby proving our true descent from those who, two 
hundred and fifty years ago, gave to the world one of her most conspic- 
uous examples of the spirit and methods by which Christian Com- 
monwealths may be built up and perpetuated. 

" The restoration of good government to this State " — that 
was the task he had set for himself ; and he neglected no proper 
opportunity of invoking the sympathy and aid of all citizens on 
the broad ground of common interest and obligation, well know- 
ing that under our form of government the public welfare is never 
secure unless there can be established under all political organiza- 
tions into which the people may be divided, a fundamental sym- 
pathy and co-operation of honest men in honorable aims. 

In March, the same Society had its annual dinner, and the 
Governor was again invited to be present to respond to the same 
sentiment. Again he was compelled to decline. The brief letter 
of declination written two days before the adjournment of the 
Legislature, illustrated, ,as it was, by his public service, pro- 
foundly affected the assembly and the public, and was the 
occasion of a remarkable speech by an eminent citizen, for many 
successive years before the war the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives of the State. The Governor wrote : 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 1 1 / 

Columbia, March i6, 1875. 
A. S. Trumbo, Esq., Charleston., S. C. : 

Dear Sir — Your very kind favor of the 12th inst. is received. It 
is a great disappointment to me not to be able to be present with you 
and to enjoy the high honor of responding to the sentiment which you 
have enclosed 

It fills the full measure of my ambition to win the approval of the 
good men of South Carolina of all parties in my efforts to have our 
State Government become a blessing and protection to all our people. 
My present position would afford me no compensation which I could 
value if I should fail to convince all that I am striving to be the servant 
of the whole people. Your kindness on this occasion is one valued 
proof of my success in this respect, and it shall nerve me to follow the 
same path in the future. 

Yours, very gratefully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

What followed the reading of this letter was thus reported in 
the Charleston Nczus and Courier : 

After the reading of this communication, which was received with deafening ap- 
plause, President O'Connor introduced General James Simons to respond to the fol- 
lowing toast, which was to have been responded to by Governor Chamberlain : 

" The State of South Carolina : There are signs which indicate the dawn of a 
new and better era, when, shaking the mildew of corruption from her garments, she 
will array herself again in the robes of honor and honesty." 

General Simons, after alluding to the present condition of the State, asked who 
was to be the Cato who would restore her to her former greatness and glory. The 
office of Governor in South Carolina has been its most favored office. Its judiciary 
has always been favored and spotless, and, in my conception. South Carolina has 
been so catholic, so universal in her opinion and sentiment, that when she wanted a 
Cato she did not have to ballot for him. [Good ! good !] But whoever came to rep- 
resent the people, whether he came from one portion of the Union or another, if he 
had honesty stamped upon his brow, he was welcomed and supported. I heard read 
just now the sentiment : " The compensation of my being Governor of South Caro- 
lina will be indifferent if I fail to convince all that I am the Governor of the whole 
people." Gentlemen, I have been accustomed to that sentiment in South Carolina 
amongst the Governors when I was no higher than this table. I' have never heard 
them utter the sentiment, but I never saw the time when it was other than conceded 
that the Executive, the foreman of the grand jury of the Commonwealth, knew no 
difference between individual or party ; he was the Governor of the whole people. 
This I regard as a great sentiment, a noble conception ; it requires nobility of nature, 
elevation of spirit, power of self-respect, to carry it into execution. 

You have a man ruling over your State who has the affections, the respect, the 
esteem, and the confidence of the people. Let him make good that exalted senti- 
ment uttered in his letter which has just been read, and he will merit the "Well 
done, good and faithful servant," uttered with one accord by a grateful people. I do 
not expect miracles. I am of a profession which teaches mc to find out what justice 



I I 8 GO VERNON CHA M BE A' LA IN ' S 

is. You must remember, gentlemen, that Governor Chamberlain is circumstanced as 
few of his predecessors have been. He is surrounded Ijy difticulties. You cannot 
expect him to work a miracle, and tear off the corruption from the body politic in a 
few days or weeks. But he may take great strides towards it, and such is the power 
of virtue that a mere spark will illumine the whole. He has the opportunity to show 
himself fairly. He has started well, and he has made a profession this evening, not 
in a corner, not to me or any one else individually, but he has made it known to this 
society, composed of men who represent more than one fifth of the body politic of 
the metropolis of the State, and, in this letter which has been read, you hear his sol- 
emn declaration that you may publish to the world, that he intends to stand upon an 
apex above the miserable atmosphere of meanness and baseness ; to rise up as a man 
who says, I will put down corruption ; I will raise up honesty and uprightness. 
Then, my friends, let us unite in casting prejudice aside, and, whilst we hold him to 
a strict account of his stewardship, let us never forget the difficulties by which he is 
encompassed. 

In the spring of 1875, the Washington Light Infantry of the 
city of Charleston held a fair for the benefit of the widows and 
orphans of its deceased members, of whom many fell in the civil 
war fighting for the consummation of secession. In Massachu- 
setts, a number of citizens and ladies determined to aid the fair, 
intending thereby to indicate that they had ceased to foster per- 
sonal animosity toward their countrymen in the South and were 
willing to join in benevolent action in behalf of widows and or- 
phans of soldiers who had served in the rebellion. A large and 
influential committee in Boston sent out invitations for contribu- 
tions. A copy of the Committee's circular having been sent to 
Governor Chamberlain, he at once addressed a letter to Mr. Rich- 
ard Briggs, of Boston, Chairman of the Committee, which, when 
it became public, was most favorably regarded, North and South. 
Governor Chamberlain said : 

I am delighted at this proof of good-will of the citizens of the 
capital of my native State toward those of the chief city of my adopted 
State. No patriotic duty is more commanding at this time than the 
restoration of fraternal feelings between Massachusetts and South Car- 
olina, and the great sections of our country they represent, respectively. 
Every good interest in this State will take new strength from your ex- 
hibition of good-will to our people. 

On the 19th of April, the towns of Lexington and Concord, in 
Massachusetts, celebrated the centennial of the first battles of the 
Revolutionary War. It was the beginning of a long series of pa- 
triotic celebrations which interested the whole people, and exerted 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 1 9 

a powerful influence, by the revival of memories of common sac- 
rifices and triumphs, in healing the wounds of the recent civil 
war. Governor Chamberlain was invited to the celebration and 
attended. His presence in the double capacity of son of Massa- 
chusetts and Governor of South Carolina, two States between 
which there had been during the Revolution the strongest sym- 
pathy and comity, was one of the notable incidents of the occa- 
sion, and its significance was heightened by the eloquent address 
he delivered after the dinner. This address and that made to the 
same audience by another son of Massachusetts, then living in 
Virginia, General William F. Bartlett, were justly regarded as the 
oratorical gems of the day. They struck the chord of yearning 
for reconciliation and fraternity which was already tense and vi- 
brant in hearts then, after long woe and bitterness, becoming 
responsive to the prophetic words of Lincoln : " We are not 
enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion 
may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The 
mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again 
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our 
nature." 

The first sentiment proposed by Mr. Thomas Merriam Stetson, 
who presided at the dinner in the tent at Lexington, was, " The 
State of South Carolina. Never will Massachusetts forget the 
prompt response of South Carolina the very night she heard the 
war note from Lexington." Every one knew who would respond 
to this sentiment ; but the introduction of the speaker and the 
applause which attended it showed how widely the fame of his 
recent actions had spread. "And Governor Chamberlain," said 
Mr. Stetson, " may veto any thing he wants to, except our earnest 
request for a response from the Palmetto to the Pine." Governor 
Chamberlain then spoke as follows : 

To stand upon the spot where our fathers gave the last test of their 
devotion to civil freedom is a high and sacred privilege. If our hearts 
respond to the highest influences which human example and endeavor 
can afford ; if personal gratitude for blessings secured ; if honor for 
self-forgetting, single-eyed fidelity to duty ; if a sense of the far- 
reaching, limitless consequences which are sometimes wrapped up in 



I20 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the actions of a few men ; if any or all of these considerations have 
power to affect us, this place and this day must call up the tenderest 
and proudest emotions. Such emotions are too strong and deep to be 
expressed in words. The full inspiration of this occasion must be felt 
in the heart. The lips cannot utter it. 

I confess, therefore, that I am loth to attempt to add to the tribute 
of words which this occasion has already called forth. The outward 
scenes which were presented here a hundred years ago : the sequence 
of causes and events which led up to that supreme hour which wit- 
nessed the opening in blood of this great chapter of American history ; 
something, too, of the physical and moral lineaments of the actors in 
those scenes ; the vast results already attained and the boundless future 
still waiting ; — these have been presented before us with all the power 
which eloquence and poetry can lend. What remains, except that we 
should fill our hearts with the lessons and sentiments and principles 
which this day has taught us, and again take our places in the ranks of 
that great army which on all days and on all fields must still carry for- 
ward the unending warfare of freedom against oppression, of justice 
against wrong, of human progress against all efforts to circumscribe the 
thoughts or fetter the actions of men except by the eternal laws of truth 
itself ? 

The men whose memory we seek to honor to-day were great because 
they shrank from no dangers or sacrifices which were demanded of 
them in order to vindicate and defend the rights which they claim by 
virtue of their simple manhood. That grand and imperishable declara- 
tion of the rights which man may claim as the inalienable endowment 
of his Creator, which was made one year later, was but the echo of the 
guns which disturbed the morning air of Lexington one hundred years 
ago. The grandeur of that hour was its absolute and unhesitating re- 
sponse to the call of duty. Here stood our sires ; and here they fell. 
They could do not otherwise. They were British subjects. No inde- 
pendence had yet been proclaimed. No war had yet been declared. 
And yet they resisted. The thought of founding a new nation did not 
fire their hearts. And yet they dared to lift their hands against the 
power of their lawful sovereign. They counted no cost. They knew 
not that they were striking a chord which would vibrate through the 
land and summon every colony to their side. They stood alone, alone 
with duty, face to face with an imperious necessity which their man- 
hood laid upon them. 

Ah, fellow-citizens, is not this their highest title to immortality ? 
Not that they opened the vast drama of events which followed ; not 
that they were founders of a new nation ; not that the American repub- 
lic had its birth in that hour, but rather that in sublime fidelity to duty, 
alone, unsupported, cheered by no voice save the still voice of duty 
speaking within their hearts, they dared to be true to their convictions 
and to strike a blow, however feeble, however hopeless, for their rights 
as mc7i. 

If they had doubted, they must have despaired. If they had shrunk 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 1 2 1 

from the perils and opportunities of that one hour, who does not see 
that the decisive moment would have been lost ? To-day, seen in the 
ordinary historical perspective, the scenes which we are now recalling 
are covered with a halo which half conceals the heroism then witnessed. 
If we can for a moment dispel this false halo, we shall see more 
clearly than we are wont to see how simple, austere, and devoted was 
the sense of duty which animated the men who first resisted arbitrary 
power on this spot. 

It is easy to imagine a great and proud nation pouring forth its 
wealth and strength to maintain its national supremacy. It is easy to 
imagine a people stung to desperate resistance by the merciless cruel- 
ties of the oppressor. No such scene was presented here on the 19th 
of April, 1775. No military pageant passing before their eyes aroused 
in the breast of those men the feeling of martial enthusiasm. Dramatic 
splendors, outward incitements, dreams of conquest, all were absent, 
and in their stead nothing presented itself but this simple, stern issue : 
Shall we, Englishmen, descendants of those who have gradually built 
up the great monuments and barriers of English liberty till that liberty 
has become the birthright of all Englishmen — shall we, a few weak, 
unprepared, unorganized colonists, assert in our own persons that 
great doctrine which lies at the foundation of English liberty — " Taxa- 
tion without representation is tyranny " ? ■ The very simplicity of the 
issue discloses the grandeur of the event. These men were brave 
enough and true enough to accept the call of present duty, and to wel- 
come whatever might befall in an effort to preserve their freedom. 
They had courage, and they had what, as Carlyle has said, is still bet- 
ter than courage — " no particular consciousness of courage, but a readi- 
ness in all simplicity to do and dare whatsoever is commanded by the 
inward voice of native manhood." 

I come, therefore, first of all, as a devout pilgrim at this shrine of 
freedom. I come to refresh myself for coming duties by calling up in 
vivid recollection the images of that night of alarm, that morning of 
blood, the undaunted courage, the pure simplicity, the high and reso- 
lute daring, which will forever embalm the name of Lexington among 
the most priceless memories and inspirations of human history. But I 
come also in another character and for another purpose. I come to 
bring to this feast of patriotism the greetings of the descendants of a 
colony which, from the hour when Samuel Adams, speaking in the 
name of the town of Boston to its representatives, bade them, " Use 
your endeavors that the weight of the other North American colonies 
may be added to that of this province, that by united application all 
may happily obtain redress," till the long struggle was crowned with 
final success, never faltered in her devotion to the cause on whose first 
battlefield we now stand. 

On the 30th of May, 1764, Virginia, under the impulse of Patrick 
Henry's eloquence, declared that " the people of Virginia are not 
bound to yield obedience to any laws designed to impose taxation 
upon them other than the laws of their own General Assembly." 



122 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

On the 6th of June, 1764, the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the 
advice of James Otis, suggested the caUing of an American Congress, 
to be composed of delegates from each of the thirteen colonies. On 
the 25th of June, 1764, the suggestion of Massachusetts was debated 
in the Assembly of South Carolina by the then youthful and eloquent 
John Rutledge, and adopted under the leadership of the intrepid and 
sagacious Christoi)her Gadsden. Thus Virginia sounded the alarm ; 
Massachusetts proposed the Union ; South Carolina responded with 
the pledge of her utmost support. 

" Be it remembered," says Mr. Bancroft, " that the blessing of union 
is due to the warmheartedness of South Carolina. She was alive and 
felt at every pore. And when we count up those who, above others, 
contributed to the great result, we are to name the inspired ' madman,' 
James Otis, and the magnanimous, unwavering lover of his country, 
Christopher Gadsden." 

As South Carolina was the first to respond to the call of Massachu- 
setts for a Congress, so her delegates, Gadsden, Rutledge, and Lynch, 
were the first to arrive in New York, in October, 1764, to attend that 
Congress. The first question to be determined by that Congress was 
upon what grounds the colonists should rest their resistance to the im- 
pending usurpations of Parliament. Shall they stand on the royal 
grants or on grounds of original, unwritten, imprescriptible right ? 
Shall they plead their parchment charters, or their birthright as men 
and Englishmen ? Shall they claim under the grant of the King, or 
under the grant of God ? Who does not perceive that this was a vital 
question, on whose decision the distinctive character of American free- 
dom and American self-government was to depend ? If at this moment 
of the first formulation of the claims of the colonists they had pleaded 
the royal grants as the source and ground of their rights, whence could 
Jefferson have drawn his immortal declaration of the inalienable rights 
of man ? That discussion in that first Congress was the harbinger not 
only of American independence, but of what, as I think, was more sig- 
nificant still to mankind, the declaration of American independence. 
Here again South Carolina spoke through Christopher Gadsden. "We 
must stand," said he, " upon the broad, common ground of those 
natural rights that we all feel and know as men, and as descendants of 
Englishmen. I wish the charters may not ensnare us at last bv draw- 
ing different colonies to act differently in this great cause. Whenever 
that is the case all will be over with the whole. There ought to be no 
New England man, no New Yorker, known on the continent, but all 
of us Americans." These sentiments, so truthful, so generous, so com- 
prehensive, were adopted by the Congress, and from them has sprung, 
it is not too much to say, the greatness of the American republic, the 
greatness of the principles on which it rests, and the greatness of its 
success as a practical example of government of the people, by the 
people, zxiAfor the people. 

In all the deliberations of that first Congress, in framing the first 
formal declaration of the rights of the colonists, no influences were per- 



A D MI A' IS TRA TION. 1 2 3 

haps more powerful than the voices of South Carolina's delegates, 
Gadsden, Rutledge, and Lynch. It was due to the determined opposi- 
tion of Rutledge that the right of Parliament to regulate the trade of 
the colonies was denied. It was Gadsden and Lynch who denied the 
propriety of even approaching Parliament by petition, the former de- 
claring with impassioned earnestness : '' We neither hold our rights 
from the House of Commons nor from the Lords." Animated by such 
sentiments, inspired by such leaders, Massachusetts and South Caro- 
lina, with the other colonies, on the 25th of October, 1764, bound them- 
selves to the first formal and united proclamation of the rights which 
they claimed, of the grievances of which they complained, and of the 
relief which they demanded. 

These, fellow-citizens, were the hours in which American freedom 
took its form. These were the prophetic voices announcing the future 
which we now see. Listen to them : Samuel Adams — " There are cer- 
tain original, inherent rights belonging to the people which Parliament 
itself cannot deprive them of." John Adams — "You have rights ante- 
cedent to all earthly government ; rights that cannot be repealed or re- 
strained by human laws ; rights derived from the great legislator of the 
universe." James Otis — " Freedom and equality. Death, with all its 
tortures, is preferable to slavery." Alexander Hamilton — " The sacred 
rights of mankind are written as with a sunbeam in the whole volume 
of human nature by the hand of divinity itself, and can never be erased 
or obscured by mortal power." Christopher Gadsden — "We neither 
hold our rights from the House of Commons nor from the Lords." 

From 1764 to 1774, throughout the whole of the first epoch of the 
American Revolution, while events were hastening forward toward the 
final struggle of arms, South Carolina responded with earnest and un- 
hesitating fidelity to the call of Massachusetts. The aggressions of 
Great Britain were hardly felt by her. Her commercial relations Avere 
almost Avholly with England, but her proud and unconquerable spirit 
drew her to the side of her sister colonies. " Don't pay for an ounce 
of the damned tea," was the message of Christopher Gadsden to the 
people of Boston on the 14th of June, 1774. 

When the Port Act fell with all its rigor in Boston, South Carolina 
was the first to testify her sympathy by a substantial contribution of 
rice for the support of the poor of that town. And when the call arose 
for another Congress, the planters of South Carolina again responded 
with Gadsden, Lynch, John Rutledge, Edward Rutledge, and Middle- 
ton as her representatives. When, in October of the same year. Con- 
gress resolved that if the grievances of the colonists were not redressed 
before the September following, no merchandise should be exported 
to Great Britain, Christopher Gadsden, against the protest of his col- 
leagues, declared himself ready to adopt this measure though it brought 
ruin on his State. 

On the nth of January, 1775, South Carolina again resolved to 
stand firmly by the demands of the colonies, and " if blood be spilt in 
Massachusetts, the Sons of South Carolina will rise in arms." Three 



124 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

months later the blood of Massachusetts was spilt on this spot. How 
truly, to the end, the sons of South Carolina kept that resolve history- 
has recorded on her imperishable pages. It is a record which the sons 
of Massachusetts and South Carolina, which every true American, will 
recall with patriotic pride. Time forbids me to dwell on its incidents. 
It was a spirit w-hich rose high above all personal and local interests 
and feelings, a spirit which bound together the men of Boston and the 
men of Charleston, Massachusetts, and South Carolina by the great 
bond of a common determination to maintain the freedom which they 
had inherited, and which belonged to them as men. 

I come, fellow-citizens, to remind you, on this great day, of this 
early, unbroken friendship between Massachusetts and South Carolina 
throughout the whole revolutionary period. Differing however widely 
in lineage, in habits, in institutions, they were still bound together by a 
common love for civil freedom. Together they watched the beginnings 
of tyranny ; together they planned resistance ; together they declared 
their independence from Great Britain ; together, with their lives 
and fortunes, they maintained that declaration through the long war ; 
together they devised the fabric of government under which the repub- 
lic has grown to its present proportions ; together they long labored to 
build up the strength, the prosperity, and the glory of America. Those 
precious memories of the past are secure. To-day, at least, we may re- 
call them. At Lexington, surely, South Carolina may still claim a place 
to do honor to the common cause of American liberty and inde- 
pendence. 

I know that I am commissioned here to-day to say for South Caro- 
lina that she joins with equal gratitude and reverence wuth all her sis- 
ters of the early days in honoring the 19th of April, 1775 ; that she 
claims her share in the glory of the struggle begun at Lexington ; that 
as of old she bade Massachusetts cheer in the struggle, so now she 
unites with her in these patriotic services. 

It is not for me, it is not for any one, on this occasion, to speak of 
later events in which these two ancient allies stood face to face as en- 
emies. Who that has an American heart does not rejoice that back 
of all the recent bitter struggle there lies the gracious heritage of those 
common labors and dangers and sacrifices in founding this common 
government? Who that looks wdth a just eye even on the recent strug- 
gle does not now see, on either side, the same high elements of char- 
acter, the courage, the devotion to duty, the moral lineaments of the 
Adamses and Hancocks, the Gadsdens and Rutledges of a hundred years 
ago ? Who that has faith in the destinies of America does not see in 
this early friendship — aye, and even in this later conflict — the potency 
and promise of that coming Union under whose protection liberty shall 
forever walk hand in hand with justice, wherein the North and the 
South, reunited in spirit and aims, shall again respond to every call of 
patriotic duty in the old tones of Samuel Adams and Christopher Gads- 
den, of James Otis and John Rutledge ? 

That spirit still lives, fellow-citizens, in South Carolina. If in 



ADMINISTRA TION. 1 2 5 

later days she has erred, forgive her, for even then she dared and suf- 
fered with a courage and patience not unworthy in its strength of the 
days when Gadsden and Rutledge illustrated her civic wisdom, and 
Sumter and Marion her martial prowess. " Magnanimity," says Mr. 
Burke, "is not seldom the truest wisdom, and a great empire and little 
minds go ill together." 

Fellow-citizens, I offer you to-day the fraternal, patriotic greeting of 
South Carolina — of all her people. She marches again to-day to the 
music of that Union which a hundred years ago her wisdom helped to 
devise and her blood to cement. There, in that hallowed Union, en- 
deared and sanctified by so many blessed memories, and radiant with 
so many proud hopes and promises, there, there she " must live or bear 
no life." Oh, welcome her anew to-day to the old fellowship ! The 
monuments of marble and brass which we build to-day to the memory 
of the fathers will crumble and corrode, but there is one monument 
which we may erect in the hearts of all the American people, cere 
perenniiis, — the monument of a re-united country, a free and just gov- 
ernment, "an indestructible Union of indestructible States." 

This address was widely published, and called forth expres- 
sions of cordial approval in both Northern and Southern journals. 
There was an evident disposition in both sections to accept it as 
truly representative of the desire and ten:iper of the people of the 
South. In South Carolina there was general and even enthusias- 
tic approval of the manner in which the State had been repre- 
sented on this occasion. 

Soon after the Governor's return he was invited to a banquet 
in Charleston in celebration of the centennial of the organization 
of the German Fusiliers, a military company of the city which 
numbered among its members many worthy and distinguished 
citizens. Unable to accept the invitation, on account of the ac- 
cumulation of urgent public business during his trip to the North, 
he sent the following letter : 

Columbia, May i, 1875. 

A. Melchers, Esq., President German Fusiliers, Charleston, S. C: 

My Dear Sir — I have received, with peculiar pleasure, your in- 
vitation in behalf of the German Fusiliers of Charleston, to attend their 
centennial celebration on the 3d inst., and to respond to the senti- 
ment, "The State of South Carolina." 

I appreciate this honor very highly, and I specially regret to find it 
impossible for me to accept your invitation. I have feared that it 
might seem a little inexplicable that I should be able to go to Lexing- 
ton, but not to Charleston, to attend a centennial celebration ; but 



126 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

I know I ought not to doubt that you will accept my present assur- 
ance that public duties and labors which have accumulated during my 
recent absence are of such a nature as to make it unreasonable for me 
to leave Columbia at this time. 

I trust, too, that you will, to no extent, attribute my absence from 
your celebration to a want of interest or sympathy in any celebration 
which specially concerns Charleston or South Carolina. It was a great 
privilege for me, on a recent occasion, to speak of our State in the 
presence of many thousands of our Northern brethren, and in some 
sense in the presence of the whole country. No native South Caro- 
linian, however devoted to the traditions and fame of his State, could 
have failed to be deeply moved by the cordial manifestations seen on 
that occasion of the spirit of fraternal kindness, on the part of all who 
joined in those patriotic services, towards South Carolina. It would 
afford me the utmost pleasure to be able to testify in person to this 
great and increasing feeling of fraternity between the North and the 
South, on the occasion of your celebration. 

I should rejoice, also, to do whatever I might, by my presence or 
words, to make a suitable expression of the feelings with which I know 
South Carolina responds to all sentiments and acts which tend to na- 
tional harmony and repose. Others, who are better able than I to per- 
form such a service, will be present with you, and will give voice to all 
the precious memories and hopes which your celebration will call up. 
I cannot regret my absence on your account, but only on my own, for 
I covet the honor of helping to open the series of centennial celebra- 
tions which South Carolina will institute in memory of her revolution- 
ary heroes and history. 

Above all things, my dear sir, I trust your celebration will speak 
and enforce the great present lesson and duty of political and social 
harmony between all the sections of our country, in the basis of the 
settlements which are now embodied in the Constitution and laws of 
the nation. Upon that basis let a new prosperity grow up which shall 
cheer and bless all races and conditions of men who dwell in South 
Carolina. Political differences ought to be significant and valued, only 
as they mark the greater or less fidelity of our parties to the common 
purpose of making our government and public service honest, patriotic, 
pure, and elevating. 

Every man is my political friend whose purpose is to give peace 
and prosperity to South Carolina. Every man is my political foe who 
would, for any cause, stay or turn back the returning tide which is 
bearing these blessings to our people. 

May your celebration give strength to our national feelings, to our 
honorable State pride, to our firm resolution to make South Carolina 
worthy to-day of the men who, a hundred years ago, with faith and 
courage, preserved her freedom and honor, and who transmitted to us 
blessings which still are greater than those enjoyed by any other 
nation. 

Again expressing my profound regret at my necessary absence from 



ADMINISTRA TION. 1 2J 

your patriotic celebration, I give you this sentiment : " The German 
Fusiliers of Charleston — May their constant and highest aim be to per- 
petuate the spirit which made South Carolina in 1775 the heroic and 
unconquerable defender of American freedom and nationality." 
Respectfully and gratefully, your fellow-citizen and servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

The letter did not arrive in Charleston in time to be read at 
the dinner ; but it was published in the Charleston Nezvs and 
Courier, and was the immediate occasion of the following article 
in the same paper, which shows what impression the Governor's 
intellectual force and high culture were producing : 

There is no doubt of that ! Governor Chamberlain is a master of the art of How 
to do it. This Savoir faire is possessed by few men in public life, and is totally dif- 
ferent from the easy-going good-nature that makes a man hail fellow well met with 
the universal public. It is the knack, and the habit, of saying and doing the right 
thing, at the right time, and in the right way. Governor Chamberlain exhibited this 
quality in his Inaugural Message. Others might have declared, as boldly as he, a 
fixed purpose to purify the government, and have declared it with the curt brevity of 
a Grant or in the mixed metaphor of a Boyle Roche. To Governor Chamberlain it 
was left to announce his resolutions and purposes in faultless English, which serves 
as the silk glove on the hand of iron. ' 

It is said to be exceedingly hard to make a first-rate after-dinner speech, Albert 
Edward, Prince of Wales, can do that, whatever else he cannot do ; while Charles 
Lamb was a complete failure on such occasions. But there is something harder than 
the post-prandial speech, and that is a post-prandial epistle. In this, likewise, Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain excells. There is found in every message or letter that he writes 
some phrase which lingers in the memory, some new and happy expression of what 
good folk at once recognize and receive as true. The letter to the German Fusiliers, 
published yesterday, is a case in point. Governor Chamberlain there says : 

" Political differences ought to be significant and valued, only as they mark the 
greater or less fidelity of our parties to the common purpose of making our gov- 
ernment and public service honest, patriotic, pure, and elevating. Every man is my 
political friend whose purpose is to give peace and prosperity to South Carolina. 
Every man is my political foe who would, for any cause, stay or turn back the return- 
ing tide which is bearing these blessings to our people." 

These words, if we lived in the days of good Haroun Al Raschid, would be written 
in letters of gold and counted with the treasures of the kingdom. And on greater 
occasions, such as the centennial celebration at Lexington, where for the first time 
in our history, a New Englander, by birth and education, stood before the country as 
the Governor of South Carolina, Governor Chamberlain is equally happy. Indeed, 
from the messages, letters, and speeches of Governor Chamberlain, during the few 
months that he has been Governor, one might select just such examples of severe 
logic and polished declamation, just such stirring enunciations of eternal truths, as 
have made the names of the Fathers of the Republic honored and honorable. But 
it must not be thought that Governor Chamberlain does nothing but talk and write. 



US GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

In act, in actual work, no man has been bolder or more decisive than he. This is 
the climax. To have a Governor who is honest in his purposes, and is inflexible in 
his determination to check extravagance and put down fraud, who is a man of force 
as well as culture, is more than South Carolina ever expected to have under Republi- 
can rule. Is there not a great deal in knowing How to do it ? 

Early in the month of May, the Governor was invited to 

deliver the address before the h'terary societies of Erskine College 

in South Carolina at the approaching commencement. He was 

obliged to decline because he had accepted a previous invitation 

; to deliver an oration at the commencement of Yale College, his 

I alma mater, zX. nearly the same date. In his letter (May lo, 1875) 

/ declining the invitation for this reason, he said : " I assure you it 

is not a merely formal regret which I now express in saying that 

if the two occasions had been presented at the same time, I 

should have accepted yours." The Due West Presbyterian, in 

which his letter was published " by request of the Committee of 

Correspondence," introduced it by a paragraph which in its 

apologetic suggestion shows how extraordinary this invitation 

seemed to some of the people. 

The invitation, we are sure was prompted by the best of motives. Governor 
Chamberlain has belonged to a party that have not the sympathy of the white people 
of South Carolina ; but since his election to the Governor's chair he has shown him- 
self to be above petty party influences, and has ruled to the satisfaction of the better 
classes of all colors in the State. He makes a good and acceptable Governor. He 
is acknowledged to be a gentleman of culture and a fine speaker. Hence our peo- 
ple would have welcomed him at commencement cordially. The reason assigned 
for declining the invitation is regarded here as a good one, and the whole letter 
shows the Governor in a good light. We publish it with pleasure. 

r On the 20th of May, 1875, was celebrated at Charlotte, in North 
Carolina, the Centennial of the daring and prophetic declaration 
of independence of Great Britain, resolved upon by the patriots of 

! Mecklenburg County far in advance of similar action by the 
United Colonies. At this celebration, Governor Chamberlain was 
an honored guest. It was to the South what the celebration at 
Concord and Lexington a month before had been to the North, 
and was attended by a numerous company of distinguished citi- 
zens of other States, as well as by everybody of consequence in 
the old North State. On this occasion the Governor again spoke 
for South Carolina, presenting again, and to a Southern audience, 
the same high motives to union, reconciliation, and common 



ADMINISTRATION. 1 29 

national pride which he had lately urged in Massachusetts. He 
said : 

Fellow-Citizens — I rise to offer to you and this assemblage the cor- 
dial response of the people of South Carolina to the sentiment which 
has just been announced, and to ail the fadeless memories, the high in- 
spirations, and the exalting hopes which this occasion commemorates 
and suggests. I know full well that I speak to-day for South Carolina, 
chiefly because it is my fortune to be her official representative. Older, 
abler, better voices than mine will, I cannot doubt, speak for her — ■ 
voices of those who have sprung from this soil, who know as household 
words the traditions of the Carolinas, who will represent more ade- 
quately than I can hope to do the genus loci which has inspired, which 
still inspires, and which I know will continue to inspire and direct the 
eager, jealous, fervid, and constant patriotism of the men of Mecklen- 
burg and Carolina. 

But what heart, if it be an American heart, whether it sprung to life 
beneath these sunny skies, or where nature presents herself in more 
rugged and repellent forms ; what heart, touched with one spark of 
the divine flame of love of country, does not bound and swell to greet 
and welcome this day and this occasion ? 

If Marathon and Plataea, after two thousand years, still speak the les- 
son of devoted and valorous patriotism ; if Runnymede, after six centu- 
ries, is still a name for English patriots to conjure by ; if Marston Moor, 
though the heather and the daisy have covered the last traces of the shock 
and carnage of her battle for more than two hundred years, is still 
marked by reverent pilgrims as the spot where the long night of kingly 
prerogative was ended by the gray dawn of the new and glorious day of 
the people's rights ; with what measure of gratitude to God, of honor to 
our ancestors, of patriotic gratulation and gladness, should we, Ameri- 
cans, Carolinians, greet this spot, where, as we firmly and advisedly 
believe, only one hundred years ago, the first formal utterance of the 
great idea of American independence was heard. 

To a man who believes in human progress, to one who sees and rev- 
erences the divine hand in human affairs, I care not in what section or 
country his sympathies may have been nurtured, the deed done in Char- 
lotte town, in Mecklenburg County, May 20, 1775, will stand at once 
as a monument and an inspiration, a trophy and a prophecy, of the sure 
and pre-ordained coming of the day when the feeble light which flamed 
forth here a hundred years ago shall fill the whole world. 

The declaration of Mecklenburg ! It was but a spoken word — an 
articulated breath of this universal air — yet it was a deed, a battle, a 
victory. No cannon thundered it, no telegraph flashed it ; yet it was 
"heard round the world." 

" That death-shot shook the feudal tower, 
And shattered slavery's chain as well ; 
On the sky's dome, as on a bell, 
Its echo struck the world's great hour." 



I30 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The men of Mecklenburg ! They were the plain farmers, physi- 
cians, lawyers, and ministers of this secluded canton, unambitious of 
fame, seeking nothing but their accustomed rights, the moral as well as 
lineal children of John Knox, resolute before men as they were rever- 
ent before God. Colonel Thomas Polk, a heart as pure and brave as 
Richard Coeur de Lion ; Dr. Ephraim Brevard, the gentle scholar and 
physician, the flame of whose devotion to liberty never flickered till it 
was quenched by the damps of a British prison-ship five years later ; — 
these, and such as they, were the men vvho alone, self-inspired, in ad- 
vance of all others, at the time when Thomas Jefferson was writing to 
John Randolph : " I would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, 
properly limited, than on any nation on earth, or than on no nation," 
sounded the first signal note of absolute revolt and independence. 

We tear no leaf to-day from the brow of any revolutionary patriot, 
who elsewhere, by pen or sword, upheld the same great cause. We 
seek only with the jealousy of filial reverence and love to guard the 
fame, to honor the memory, to proclaim the early, abounding, and 
impetuous patriotism of the men of Mecklenburg. 

A few simple virtues constitute the sum and p.erfection of human 
greatness. Simplicity of character, singleness of aim, constancy of 
purpose, "readiness to do or dare whatsoever is commanded by the 
inward voice of native manhood," — such qualities in due combination 
have made the true heroes of all ages. Of such stuff the heroes of 
Mecklenburg were made. 1 do not for a moment conjecture that they 
foresaw the vast consequences of their acts here a hundred years ago. 
The gift of prophecy was long since withdrawn from mortal men. 
These men caught no glimpses, I venture to say, of the America of 
thirty-seven States, of 40,000,000 of people, stretching from ocean to 
ocean, covering every sea with her commerce, and reaching every land 
with her influences. They loved their homes and their families ; they 
valued their home-born rights and privileges, the dear gifts of honored 
sires ; they reverenced the grand structure of English law : 

"A land of settled government, 
A land of just and old renown, 
Where freedom slowly broadens down 
From precedent to precedent." 

These were their heritage, their wealth, their life. For these they 
were ready to live or die. And so they became heroes. 

Napoleon has been thought to have uttered a great word when, 
standing within the shadow of the pyramids, he exclaimed : "Soldiers, 
from yonder heights forty centuries contemplate your actions." Vain 
and empty words ! The pyramids themselves were but the visible mon- 
uments of a slavery blacker than Egyptian darkness, and the voice 
which spoke from them was but a voice that mocked the unhallowed 
ambition of him who invoked it. The grand army long since melted 
away ; the fiery ambition of the great conqueror was quenched in ignoble 
bondage, and the last representative of the dynasty which he deluged 



A DM INI S TRA TION. I 3 I 

Europe in blood to found now challenges only our pity as he relieves 
his exile with the idle masquerades of his princely pretensions. 

The men of Mecklenburg were surrounded by no dramatic splen- 
dors. Faith in the gracious and mighty power of the God of their 
fathers, the voice of duty, the spirit of manhood, — these were their 
strength and inspiration. Their work endures. Endures, did I say ? 
It grows ; it broadens ; it deepens ; it will yet cover the earth with the 
bounty, the grace, and the glory of enlightened freedom. 

Tlie declaration here made was a single, isolated act — the act of the 
representatives of the people of one county. But the spirit of indepen- 
dence was in the air. A year and forty-five days later the declaration 
of Mecklenburg was the declaration of the United States of America. 
From that hour the men of Mecklenburg made common cause with all 
Americans in the struggle which followed. Mecklenburg was thence- 
forth merged in the struggling, rising nation. Within a radius of forty 
miles from this centre a score of fields were wet with the blood which 
was the price of American independence. 

It is a proud record. Let its voice be heard to-day above the 
estrangements of later times — above the differences which on other 
days may still divide us. The declaration of Mecklenburg was the 
quick response of this people to the first shedding of blood at Lexing- 
ton. I stood the other day on the field of Lexington, amidst the 
wealth, the culture, the abounding population of Massachusetts, and I 
listened with proud and swelling heart to the cordial, heartfelt words of 
cheer and sympathy for the Carolinas and the South, which formed one 
of the most significant features of that great occasion. I thought I saw 
there the returning tide of fraternal feeling which will surely flow over 
the Avhole American people, making the men of Lexington and the men 
of Mecklenburg enemies no more, and rivals only, as of old, in the 
promptitude and constancy of their devotion to American freedom and 
nationality. Let a like voice be heard here to-day. The ear of Lex- 
ington is bent low to catch the welcome sound. Let it go forth — the 
voice of Mecklenburg — proclaiming the new Union more glorious even 
than the old, because tested by harder trials, planted on deeper founda- 
tions, and springing from a broader faith in the immortal principles of 
American freedom. 

South Carolina bids me speak to-day her gratitude and reverence 
for the men of Mecklenburg of 1775, her fraternal feelings towards all 
who are assembled here, and her intense sympathy with the memories 
which lie behind us, and the hopes which stretch before us. 

The addresses of the Governor, and the cordial spirit shown in 
the North, especially in Massachusetts, had kindled in South 
Carolina a lively interest in the historical anniversaries of the 
year. It was determined to send to represent the State at the 
celebration of the Centennial of the Battle of Bunker Hill a de- 
tachment of the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, bear- 



132 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ing the precious Eutaw flag, the one stand of colors preserved in 
America which had waved in a battle of the war for independence. 
The announcement of this intention was hailed with joyful antici- 
pation throughout the land, and no feature of that brilliant and 
memorable occasion M'as more enthusiastically regarded. The 
company bore with them also a magnificent new State flag, pre- 
sented before their departure by the Governor. Unable to leave 
Columbia to personally deliver the gift to the company, he re- 
quested the Hon. W. D. Porter, an eminent citizen of Charleston 
and senior ex-captain of the company, to perform this duty. In 
his letter to Mr. Porter (June 9, 1875) he said : 

I have procured a flag with the emblems and legends of our State 
emblazoned thereon, which I wish placed in their hands to be borne by 
them on the patriotic mission which calls them from the State. I Avish 
that its presence at Bunl;£r Hill may signify the sincere veneration in 
which the people of South Carolina hold all who bore a part in found- 
ing the American nation. I wish that it may call to mind, wherever it 
may be seen, the early patriotism which gave to America and the world 
the example and memories of Eutaw and Bunker Hill, of Lexington 
and King's Mountain, and the hundred other battlefields where South 
Carolina and Massachusetts, the North and the South, niingled their 
best blood. If that early patriotism, if those costly sacrifices are to 
have full fruition, it will be when the North and the South shall again 
be united by the indissoluble bond of their love of country. If the 
recent bitter estrangements are to be succeeded by the sweet rewards of 
peace, it will be when, by the common efforts of the North and the 
South, a free and just national government shall command the love and 
honor of all sections and States. To hasten such results is the function 
of those memorial observances in which the Washington Light Infantry 
and this flag of South Carolina will bear a significant and honorable 
part. May Heaven prosper and protect them while absent, and may 
the Bunker Hill of to-day be to them and to us all a spot sacred from 
henceforth to national peace and fraternity. 

In his reply, accepting the service the Governor had asked, 
Mr. Porter said : 

Permit me to express my cordial concurrence in the sentiments so happily ex- 
pressed by you. It seems to me as if there was something providential in the occur- 
rence of these centennial celebrations so soon after our recent estrangement. If there 
be a common ground on which the people of the North and South can meet and look 
each other in the eyes and strike hands and renew their pledges of fidelity to liberty 
and union, without disparagement or loss of self-respect on either side, it is upon the 
snounds, the holy places, where their forefathers laid the foundations of independence 
and then cemented them with their precious blood. This is the way of all ways to 
bridge over the chasm. 



ADM IN IS TRA TION. I 3 3 

The engagement of Governor Chamberlain to deliver an ad- 
dress before the Law School of Yale College has already been 
mentioned. His visit to New Haven for this purpose but thir- 
teen years after he was graduated was an occasion of great inter- 
est, not only to himself and to the college but to the general 
public, for his recent addresses at Lexington and Charlotte had 
shown that the high-minded and resolute reforming Executive of 
South Carolina was an orator of mark. His theme, " Some of 
the Relations and Present Duties of the Legal Profession to our 
Public Life and Affairs," while strictly appropriate to the peculiar 
occasion, imposed a consideration of questions regarding which all 
thoughtful men were at the time concerned ; questions which have 
not yet lost their interest, although now they are presented 
under new conditions. 

The relation of the State Governments to the National Govern- 
ment ; the wisdom of the policy of conferring the right to vote on 
the freedmen of the South ; the necessity of a sound and honest 
currency ; — these were the throbbing issues. The " carpet-bag " 
Governor of a Southern State, he insisted upon the conservative 
interpretation of the authority of the National Government to 
interfere with a State's autonomy. Representing a community 
which had suffered dreadful wrong through the ignorance and 
weakness of newly enfranchised citizens, and fresh from a desper- 
ate and determined struggle to rescue government from degrada- 
tion by their assault, he asserted the substantial wisdom of the 
policy of which such happenings were a temporary consequence. 
Coming from the section where repudiation of public financial 
obligations had been most common, and the burden of the 
national debt was most onerous, he advocated vigorous adherence 
to severe standards of financial duty and honor. It was the voice 
of a studious and independent thinker, and, of all the orations of 
the commencement season of that year, none obtained more 
general attention and commendation. The Charleston Netvs and 
Courier, while, of course, not agreeing with his views in some par- 
ticulars, closed a long article with these words : 

We hope that Governor Chamberlain's oration will be read everywhere in this 
State. We fancy that Governor Chamberlain is almost too philosophical, too much 
of the professor ; but, when we differ from him, we still admire the precision, polish, 
and symmetry, the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of what he says and writes. 



134 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

On the 3d of July, Governor Chamberlain wrote a letter to the 
New York Herald in response to a request for information re- 
garding an)' action by South Carolina in preparation for the 
representation of the State in the National Centennial Exhibition 
at Philadelphia. He said that while, practically, little had been 
done to secure a proper representative of the State, he had per- 
sonally and officially a strong interest in the matter, and thought 
that there was a genuine interest felt by the people of the State. 
'' With the revival of the spirit of hopefulness among our people, 
and the composing of the political bitterness of later days, 
and especially with the influence of the recent centennials at 
Lexington and Charlotte, there has appeared, as it seems to me, a 
new desire on the part of our citizens to join in the great reunion 
at Philadelphia." He promised to use his best efforts to en- 
courage this disposition, but said he was persuaded that whatever 
ight be done must be the result, largely if not wholly, of the 
recent awakening, and the voluntary action of the people in their 
representative social, industrial, and educational organizations. 
In conclusion he said that if the State failed to be properly rep- 
resented at Philadelphia, it would not be due to indifference, 
sullenness, or hostility on the part of the people at large, but to 
" other causes which it is easier to understand here than to ade- 
quately state to the country." On the 25th of October he issued 
an address to the people of the State urging them to interest and 
action in this matter, and he appointed a State Board of Cen- 
tennial Commissioners, consisting of Col. W. L. Trenholm, Cap- 
tain Jacob Small, Hon. John R. Cockran, Col. D. Wyatt Aiken, 
Col. Thomas Taylor, Hon. Reuben Tominson, Col. C. W. Dud- 
ley, Professor F. S. Holmes, and Hon. D. R. Duncan, all influen- 
tial and earnest men. Through their exertions South Carolina 
was not wholly unrepresented in the grand illustrative exhibition 
of American progress. 

In the autumn the Governor yielded to several urgent invita- 
tions to be present at agricultural fairs to address the people. 
Since the campaign preceding his election he had made no tours 
in the State. These invitations were now pressed upon him by 
citizens who gave him no countenance then, and as an evidence 
of confidence and approval they were flattering. The Governor's 



^ D MINIS TEA TION. I 3 5 

addresses were not generally reported, but the local newspapers 
of the time afford abundant testimony that he received respectful 
and cordial welcome from every class, and that the practical, 
hopeful counsel he imparted gave general satisfaction. The 
following extracts, from a summary report in the Charleston 
Nczcs and Courier, of the address at Barnwell Court House before 
the County Agricultural Society, shows the spirit of these talks 
to the farmers of South Carolina by the son of a Massachusetts 
farmer, accustomed through all the years of boyhood to hard 
work on the land. 

Look back just ten years and contrast the scene. The ashes of your houses and 
barns were then warm. Your stock was utterly gone. Your implements of labor 
were destroyed. The condition of the mass of laborers had suddenly been changed 
from slavery to freedom. Every feature of the farmer's situation seemed to be in sad 
and hopeless confusion or prostration. Now look on this scene ! Here is cotton 
more than rivalling in quantity and quality the best days before the war. Here is 
stock, blooded and native, horses and neat stock, worthy of the reputation of any 
agricultural community. Here is contentment and peace between laborer and em- 
ployer. Here are your wives and children, grace and beauty of the best type, all 
giving evidence of that unparalleled recuperation which Barnwell has witnessed. And 
yet, men are heard sometimes to despair of South Carolina ! Some there are who 
gloomily dwell on the past, and think the proper attitude for our State is as a modern 
Niobe, in the dust and sackcloth of defeat and despair I 

But the men of Barnwell, thank Heaven, have not thought so. They have fallen 
only to rise again. Like Antseus, they have touched the earth only to renew their / 
strength and courage. Such a spirit will exorcise every evil that afflicts us. Never 
be despondent. " God is for us. Who, then, can be against us ? " He was not here 
to discuss political issues even by allusion, but he might with propriety say that no 
influence is more efficient in removing bad government and uniting all the people in 
a firm purpose to have the blessings of good government than the industrial enterprise 
and success now so abundantly attained here and elsewhere in our State. 

His first words, then, to the farmers and planters of Barnwell, the employer and 
employed alike, was : " Go on, and be of good cheer." The hardest fight has been 
won. No evils so great as those you have felt can ever come upon you again. Your 
progress now can be uninterrupted, even if slow. 

In conclusion, the Governor said that with these four things secured — faith in our 
future prosperity based upon the results of the past decade — pride in our occupation 
as tillers of the soil — broad and thorough education for our farmers — improved 
methods and appliances in farming, especially deep ploughing and improved stock — 
and added to all these a more diversified agriculture, the future of South Carolina 
would at once take on the roseate hues of its coming day of abundant prosperity. 
Discords of all kinds, which now retard her march, would pass away. " I have un- 
bounded faith," said he, "in the future, the near future, of South Carolina. Evil is 
in its nature transient. Good is immortal. The bounteous hand of Nature has show- 



136 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ered upon us the greatest advantages of soil, climate, and, I hesitatingly &Ad, people. 
Our two races are, in truth, admirably adapted to each other. Each needs the other. 
Each will suffer without the other. All we need is a liberal, catholic spirit in all the 
affairs and relations^of life to make the color and race line sink beneath notice, so far 
as the practical upbuilding of our State and her good government is concerned. Give 
us these, and we will secure the rest. 

" For sometimes flashes on my sight, 

Through present wrong, the eternal Right, 
And, step by step, since Time began, 
I see the steady gain of Man." 

On the i6th of December, 1875, after the re-assembhng of the 
Legislature, the Governor visited Greenville to present the prizes 
offered by Dr. William H. Whitsitt of that place to the successful 
contestants in an examination in Greek " open to any person in 
the State of South Carolina who is under eighteen years of age 
on the day of examination," and to deliver an address. This 
purpose to encourage excellence in classical studies appealed 
strongly to his desire to foster all educational progress, or he 
would not have accepted an invitation requiring even a brief 
absence from Columbia while the Legislature was in session. 
That his coming for that purpose was an appreciated service ap- 
pears in the anticipatory remark of the Greenville News : 

The people may be congratulated on having a Governor who appreciates learn- 
ing, and they should reflect that he undertakes this duty at the very moment when his 
time and powers are engaged in ofi'icial duties of a very arduous character. The fact 
that he takes on himself this additional task — for no man who values literary reputa- 
tion can afford to make it less than a severe task — will show how high a place the 
higher education has in his regard. 

What surprising advantage was taken of his absence from 
Columbia will appear hereafter.' 

" On such an occasion there is but one theme for discourse," 
said the orator ; and his address was upon "The Value of Classical 
Studies." After its publication,'' the Charleston News and Courier , 
speaking of the pleasure a perusal of it had afforded, said : 

But there was an additional satisfaction involved in the realization of the fact that 
he whom we had been hitherto led to regard as but a lawyer and politician, albeit in 
the highest and truest sense in which the terms can be used, is, moreover, a scholar 
and a gentleman of broad culture and refined understanding. It was a pleasant sur- 
prise that we were thus enabled to discover a phase of the author's character, which, 

' Chapter xiii. 
* Published in the Nezu Englandcr (Se\w Haven, Conn.) for April, 1876. 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 1 3 / 

in the noisy and turbulent surroundings of his political and public career, had never 
been disclosed — at least to us. The man who has the brains and the heart to write 
such an address, has but to follow his natural instincts in order to make him a safe 
and trustworthy guardian of the public interests. . . . It is itself the aptest illus- 
tration of the argument presented for a classical education. 

With what sentiment and satisfaction Governor Chamberlain 
escaped for a day from the strenuous, anxious, harassing toil of 
state affairs to a retreat of scholarship, from the turbid strife of 
good and evil politics to the restful haunt of learning, appears in 
the exordium and peroration. A captain, long tossed on troubled 
seas, having won many hard battles and knowing that desperate 
conflicts with implacable foes are yet to be fought, does not more 
eagerly appreciate a brief recreation in a friendly haven. Re- 
sources of strength and content in the equipment of this earnest 
man of affairs, which have significance in explaining the spirit 
with which he attempted and executed his arduous work, are re- 
vealed in these passages : 

We have met to-night to witness the award of two prizes offered by 
your liberal and learned townsman, Dr. Whitsitt, for excellence in 
Greek. This air is still and pure. No electric flashes of passion dis- 
turb it ; no murky vapors of prejudice poison it. Only the chaste 
ardors of a few expectant youths give it a healthful warmth, while the 
serene and approving countenances of these friends and exemplars of 
learning fill it with the spirit of sweetness and repose. I rejoice to be 
here. With my first word I welcome you all, the young and the old, 
the learned and the unlearned, to this restful scene, and this ennobling 
occasion. Sweet learning has here her hour ; culture spreads these 
viands ; the genius of aspiration for things pure and noble, a genius as 
ancient as man, as youthful as the child of to-day, a genius whose fires 
lighted up the Hellespont and the ^gean thirty centuries ago, and to- 
night, here in this secluded canton of a world not then dreamed of, 
burn with a warmth and radiance unsubdued, and 

" shall burn unquenchably, 
Until the eternal doom shall be," 

presides over this banquet. 

How thankful should we be that such an occasion, so rare and 
precious, is permitted to us from out the still almost open jaws of a de- 
struction which wasted the fields, swept away the material riches, 
burned up the very implements and supplies of learning, and soaked 
the earth with the life-blood of the bravest and best of this generation! 
How does the story which ^neas, 

" Quanquam animus meminisse horret, luctuque refugit," 



138 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

povired into the ear of the admiring Tyrian queen, come mended and 
heightened in its thrill and pathos by this later story of scenes fresh in 
the^'memories of us all ! How ought we to rejoice that our story may 
still be told around our own hearth-stones, in our own native land, and 
not like Virgil's immortal wanderer's tale, in a foreign realm, after cruel 
tossings by sea and land ! 

This occasion speaks a voice and has a significance which must 
appeal to the sensibilities of all who love learning. It is a pure tribute 
to the worth of classical culture. It is the evidence of the value set by 
this people on things that seem remote from their daily material wants. 
It is an effort to rekindle the fires, the cheering, unconsummg, en- 
lightening fires of learning, in the places where the baleful, devouring 
flames of war so lately burned. Heaven's benediction be upon such 
occasions, such efforts ! They are worthy of any people. They are 
worthy of South Carolina, of her past, of her present. Let it be said 
now that our State has never wanted witnesses to the great truths of 
scholarship, exemplars of its spirit, patrons of its art, representatives of 
its high attainments. Though the statement may be challenged be- 
yond our borders, yet I speak my sincere conviction when I say that 
nowhere in America has there been shown a more sincere devotion to 
classical culture on the part of those whose opportunities have per- 
mitted its cultivation, than in this State. The familiar line of our 
statesmen, orators, and divines proves it. The observation of one who 
even now shall observe the professional mind of the State proves it. If 
less widely diffused, if possessed by fewer, it has votaries as sincere, 
and its influence is as marked and constant in those who claim its com- 
panionship, as among any people to whom my acquaintance has ex- 
tended. 

******* 

My friends, the field which I sketched at the outset of this address 
has been traversed. By your most kind patience, my humble contri- 
bution to the interest of this occasion has now been presented. It has 
been wrought from opening to close amidst the unremitted pressure of 
labors and cares and anxieties, little suited, as I need not remind you, 
to the contemplative and studious mood which classical studies suggest. 
But the subject is one filled with so many delights of sentiment and 
memory that I rejoice to have been called to this service. My feelings 
for the classics are tinged, I know, by sweet and tender memories of 
i youth and its struggles. As I look again on the pages of the old, worn 
1 books of school and college, by a kind of palimpsestic process the 
forms of the mother who guided me to the portals of the temple whose 
treasures I have sought to set before you to-night ; of the brother whose 
swifter and stronger though more youthful feet first followed, then ac- 
companied, then outran mine ' ; of the teachers whose instructions, 
more precious than refined gold, were less precious than the examples 

1 1 Rev. Leander T. Chamberlain, D.D., valedictorian of the class of 1S63, Yale 
College. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



139 



of their character and life, all rise before me, and affection towards the 
studies of Greece and Rome rises into reverence, and " reverence 
melts back again into childish, tearful love." It is a subject, I con- 
fess, in which, like Macaulay, " I love to forget the accuracy of a judge 
in the veneration of a worshipper and the gratitude of a child." 

But on this occasion I have hoped to present some of the elements 
of value for the purposes of education, which these studies offer to all. 
The review has impressed upon me not only the constant utility of 
classical studies in every age and under all conditions of life, but the 
permanence which belongs to the work of scholars. My closing words 
shall, therefore, be words of cheer to those whose liberal minds have 
devised the incentive of this occasion to good learning in our State. 
The torch of Athens and Rome, the torch whose light has never been 
quenched even in the midnights of ignorance and superstition which 
have sometimes overspread the world, is in your hands. O bear it 
aloft, — for light in darkness, for hope in discouragements, for courage 
in defeat, for wisdom in difficulties, for protection in dangers, for 
beauty and glory in every hour of success and victory ! It is the torch 
of learning, of principle, of morality. Beneath its illumination walk 
religion, law, and Christian civilization, while ignorance, and violence, 
and corruption glide away to haunts unvisited by its pure rays. 




CHAPTER XI. 

Politics and Administration during the Recess of the Legislature — Reply to a Memo- 
rial from Citizens of Barnwell County — Course of the New York Sun — Indignant 
Protest of South Carolina Journals — Failure of the South Carolina Bank and 
Trust Company — Prosecution of Niles G. Parker, a Former State Treasurer — His 
Attempt to Involve the Governor in his Wrong-doing — Report of a Conversation 
with the Governor — Comments of the Press of the State — The Governor Visits 
Charleston — Address upon State Affairs ; His Policy and Aims Distinctly 
Avowed — Complimentary Reception by the Chamber of Commerce — Newspaper 
Comments Elicited by the Charleston Speech — Proclamation of a Thanksgiving 
Day. 



AS there was no election in South Carolina in the year 1875, 
there was no occasion for special political activity or for 
drawing party lines strictly. The administration of State affairs 
went on without important open demonstrations of opposition in 
any quarter until after the meeting of the Legislature, although 
there were sundry incidents of a troublesome nature that 
provoked discussion among the people. The Governor steadily 
pursued his policy of reform upon the lines already distinctly 
marked out, exhibiting no sign of wavering. Owing to the failure 
of the appropriation bill the strictest economy of expenditure was 
enforced ; but this was not impracticable when it depended upon 
executive action alone. The effort to secure a better class of 
officials in the offices for which the Governor made the appoint- 
ments, and to secure stricter responsibility by the requirement of 
safe and sufficient bonds, was not relaxed. A correspondent of 
the Cincinnati Commercial, who conversed with the Governor on 
his way from the Mecklenburg centennial celebration, made this 
report of his talk concerning the quality of one class of officers : 

When I came into office there were, at least, two hundred Trial Justices in the State 
who could not read or write. The duties of a Trial Justice here are precisely the same 
as the duties of Justice of the Peace in other States. Yet previous Governors had ap- 
pointed and commissioned over two hundred men to the important duties of this office 

140 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 1 4 1 

who could not write or read a word of the English language. It was a farce and a 
fraud ; for how can men thus ignorant intelligently try causes, civil and criminal, 
brought before them ? The idea seems to hold that men must be rewarded for politi- 
cal service by giving them office, whether they are fit for the office or not. For in- 
stance, all the members, Senators and Representatives, from Edgefield County, united 
in an application to me to appoint a certain man there Notary Public. It requires a 
man who can at least write his name to fill that office, and I did not think but what 
the applicant was qualified, he was recommended so highly. I appointed him, and a 
few weeks after accidentally saw an official document from him, going to a distant 
State, to which he had made his mark, not being able to write his name. I revoked 
his commission. 

In May a memorial from citizens of the town of Blackwell, in 
Barnwell County, was presented to the Governor, reciting the cir- 
cumstances of the disappearance of the evidence (the ballots) of 
the result of the late election in that county, and calling upon him 
to ofificially condemn the act and adopt means and offer rewards 
for their recovery. In his reply (May 31, 1875) he expressed his 
condemnation of such acts, but reminded the memorialists that the 
duty of investigation and discovery belonged rather to the people 
of the county than to the State Government. 

Your Trial Justices are believed to be efficient, your citizens are in- 
telligent, your lawyers are able, and your Judge is one in whom we all 
have perfect confidence. ... I have not a dollar at my disposal 
which can be used for the payment of rewards for detecting the authors 
of this crime, and I am not willing to offer a reward which I cannot 
pay. . . , My duty will be to see that the results of the efforts of 
your people and your county are not nullified by any action of mine — 
a duty which is more onerous and difficult than you probably imagine. 
But if the people of Barnwell County will do their duty I will do mine, 
and then the laws will be administered, crime punished, and the rights 
of all secured. '\ " 

Early in the summer a series of articles attacking the character 
and record of the Governor and depreciating the motive, as well 
as the merit, of his Administration, appeared in the New York Sun 
in the form of anonymous correspondence from South Carolina. 
These letters rehearsed the inferential scandals which had been 
rife before the election and which, as already has been shown, had 
been openly and honorably abandoned by the fair-minded among 
the Governor's political opponents, in view of the clearer revela- 
tion of his character and aims which attended larger opportunities 
and more conclusive tests. An attempt was made to arouse preju- 
dice and create alarm by insinuations of the existence of new 



142 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

rings formed for plunder. These attacks gratified the malice of 
two classes — the thieves in the Republican party whose designs 
the Governor had thwarted, and an element in the Democratic 
party which was angered rather than pleased by the demonstra- 
tion of the possibility of honest administration by the Republican 
party, because this impeded the partisan ambitions of some, and 
tended to vitiate, in the State and the nation, the force of the 
representation that government by the Republican party in the 
Southern States was invariably corrupt and oppressive. But the 
attacks gave annoyance to candid and patriotic spirits in the ranks 
of the Democratic party, by whom they were met at first with 
expostulation and afterwards with spirited and contemptuous re- 
buke. The News and Courier, at different times, made the fol- 
lowing comments on these slanders : 

We do not know, and we do not care, who the present South Carolina corre- 
spondent of the New York Sun may be ; but his letters show plainly enough that, 
instead of being an honest reporter of facts as he finds them, he is simply a reckless 
scribbler, who is using the columns of the Su7t to gratify his private spleen. Fact 
and falsehood are woven together in his letters too ingeniously for his mistatements 
to be the result of ignorance or carelessness. He evidently takes special delight in 
vilifying Governor Chamberlain. Now, whatever may be thought of Mr. Chamber- 
lain's course before his election, the honest men of all parties look upon him to-day 
as a Governor whose administration has been bold, honest, and exceptionably able, 
and who is now the main bulwark that protects the State from further spoliation and 
fraud. Every well-wisher of South Carolina ought to sustain him in the war which 
he is waging with the public robbers. 

The New York Sun, in an article published elsewhere, feels bound to say that 
" any alliance between the white taxpayers of South Carolina and the present Gover- 
nor, founded upon a belief in the sincerity of the latter, must prove a fatal error " ; 
and adds that it has " the strongest reasons for supposing that the Governor has been 
instrumental in the formation of a new ' bond ring,' who, under the cover of Cham- 
berlain's newly acquired reputation for honesty, expect to reap a rich harvest from 
the credulity of the creditors of the State." The South Carolina public Avould like to 
know what these " strongest reasons " are, before paying any heed to the Sun's ad- 
vice. The Charleston correspondent of the Sun is conspicuously inexact in his asser- 
tions ; his letters are made up of a grain of truth and a bushel of misrepresentation or 
downright falsehood. Has the Sun any better authority than he for its statements ? 
If not, our New York contemporary has been sadly duped. We flatter ourselves in 
South Carolina that we can better judge of Governor Chamberlain's sincerity, and 
more surely gauge his worth, than any New York journalist can do ; and we know 
that the Sun is playing into the hands of the Elliott-Whittemore-Patterson ring, who 
are confident that they can impeach Governor Chamberlain next winter, if the Con- 
servative members, misled by the Sun, can only be turned against him. 



ADMINISTRATIOiV. I43 

For some weeks past, the New York Sjin, which takes delight in being on " the 
other side " of every question, has devoted to South Carolina the columns which had 
been monopolized by Deacon Smith, of Cincinnati, by Kemble, of " addition, division 
and silence " fame, and by the new Tribtme building. In its Charleston and Co- 
lumbia correspondence, the old tales of the transactions of the Financial Board, and 
of the Sinking Fund and Land Commission have been published in a score of differ- 
ent styles. Had the purpose been to hasten the prosecution and conviction of any 
public thieves, the people would have been grateful to the Sun ; but that paper had, 
and has, no other apparent purpose than to ruin Governor Chamberlain, and with 
him those citizens who see in him the mainstay of honesty and decency and ability in 
this State. This the Sim endeavors to do by placing forced constructions on simple 
words, and, in general, by declaring Governor Chamberlain guilty of every possible 
crime until he shall be proved to be innocent of each and every one of them. Even 
where his official acts have been most praiseworthy, the Sun asserts that he has a 
sinister purpose, as, for example, in his efforts to reduce the public expenditures. 
This, says the Sun, is only a part of the programme of a new " bond ring," of which 
Governor Chamberlain is the centre. Once, and only once, has the Sun printed any 
thing new or striking in connection with the charges against Governor Chamberlain, 
and this was in its issue of June 5th. It there prints a letter purporting to have been 
written by Mr. Chamberlain in 1870. The scheme discussed in that letter is de- 
scribed by the Sun as " a colossal scheme of plunder," and, on the strength of that 
letter, the Sun declares that " Chamberlain was the most guilty man in that notorious 
band of plunderers, and that his principles to-day are no better than when he was 
plotting to steal the whole railroad system of South Carolina." The letter, as pub- 
lished is as follows : 

Office of the Attorney General, 

Columbia, S. C, Jan. 5, 1870. 

My Dear Kimpton — Parker arrived last evening, and spoke of the G. & C. mat- 
ter, etc. I told him that I had just written you fully on that matter, and also about 
the old Bk. Bills. 

Do you understand fully the plan of the G. & C. enterprise ? It is proposed to 
buy $350,000 worth of the G. & C. stock. This with the $433,000 of stock held by 
the State, will give entire control to us. The Laurens branch will be sold in Febru- 
ary by decree of court, and will cost not more than $50,000, and probably not more 
than $40,000. The Spartanburg and Union can also be got without difficulty. 

We shall then have in G. & C. 16S miles, in Laurens 31, and in S. & U. 70 miles 
— in all 269 miles — equipped and running — put a first mortgage of $20,000 a mile on 
this — sell the bonds at 85 or 90, and the balance, after paying all outlays for cost and 
repairs, is immense, over $2,000,000. There is a mint of money in this or I am a 
fool. 

Then we will soon compel the S. C. R. R. to fall into our hands and complete 
the connection to Asheville, N. C. 

There is an indefinite verge for expansion of power before us. 

Write me fully and tell me of any thing you want done. My last letter was very 
full. 

Harrison shall be attended to at once. I don't think Neagle will make any 
trouble, Parker hates Neagle, and magnifies his intentions. 

Yours, truly, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

This may be a forged letter. The Columbia correspondent of the Stcn is an adept 
in such matters. But if the letter is genuine, it proves nothing criminal against Gov- 



144 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ernor Cliamberlain ; nor is there any thing in it that justifies the strictures of the Sun, 
unless upon the monstrous assumption that any project with which Governor Cham- 
berlain was at anytime connected must, because of that connection, have been a fraud 
and a cheat ! The South Carolina public will hardly follow the Sun so far ! Read with- 
out prejudice, the letter to Kimpton, if genuine, is evidence that a plan was afoot to 
obtain, by purchase, the control of the leading railroads in this State, with the pur- 
pose of putting them in thorough order, and of selling them again at a profit. It was, on 
the face of it, a legitimate business speculation, one very likely to command the suj)- 
port of any man who was not familiar with railroads, and did not know the difficulty 
of floating a mortgage of $20,ooo a mile on such concerns as the Greenville & Co- 
lumbia railroad, the Laurens railroad, and the Spartanburg & Union railroad then 
were. ... It may prove to be the fact that he (Mr. Chamberlain) entered into 
an association of some kind, with a view to buy up railroads, as the members of the 
Southern Security Company did, and as Vanderbilt and Garrett and Scott do when- 
ever they see an opportunity to make money. This is no crime ! Unless the Sun 
can prove that Mr. Chamberlain, as a member of such a syndicate, was guilty of cor- 
rupt practices, or helped others to be guilty of them, that he stole money or property 
himself, or knowingly took his share of what others stole — unless the Sun can do 
this, its vaunted letter proves nothing. . . . We wish there were in South Caro- 
lina an influential Republican newspaper of large circulation which could take up the 
cudgels for Governor Chamberlain whenever he is unjustly accused. There is no .such 
paper in South Carolina, and we who have no esoteric information, and whose mo- 
tives," because of our former opposition to the Governor, are always open to miscon- 
struction, are forced, by a sense of duty, to say for the head of the Radical party in 
South Carolina, what no member of that party can effectively say for him. For the 
Sun's invectives in themselves we care very little. Our object is to set Governor 
Chamberlain right before the people of the State. At this very time, and in Charles- 
ton, Radical caucuses are held almost nightly to arrange the plans by which Governor 
Chamberlain shall be bound hand and foot by the Legislaturfe next winter. There is 
only one difficulty — that is, the dreaded support of Governor Chamberlain by the 
Conservatives, in and out of the Legislature. But the Patterson-Whipper-Moses 
Ring are confident that the persistent attacks of the Sun will alienate the Conserva- 
tives from the Governor, who will then be powerless in fstce of the Ring. Eight 
Circuit Judges are to be elected by the Legislature next winter. The anti-Chamber- 
lain Ring propose to drop Judges Reed, Maher, Townsend, and Shaw. Charleston 
is to be honored with the judicial presence of a Whipper or a Worthington. But 
their plans will come to naught if the good Republicans and the Conservatives give 
the Executive, as before, their united support. We have nothing to gain or lose by 
defending Governor Chamberlain. The loss or the gain is to the people of the State. 
Our purpose is to give them the facts, with our opinions, and leave them to judge 
and act for themselves.' 

To these attacks Governor Chamberlain made no response. 
In the campaign preceding his election he had made full and un- 
qualified public denials of wrong-doing," and it was neither neces- 

' See, also, in article from the News and Courier, Chapter IX., p. 107. 
"See Appendix. 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 1 4 5 

sary nor becoming for him to repeat them. The reference to the 
matter here is in order to put where it can be conveniently con- 
sulted, the most competent and influential judgment promptly 
expressed in South Carolina with regard to a treatment which is 
from time to time renewed, and may be most fitly characterized 
by a good old word, now unfortunately disused ; it is, dehonestation. 

The last article quoted is additionally interesting for the dis- 
covery it makes of wbat was at that time (June, 1875) going on in 
the camp of the Republicans hostile to the Governor. They 
were balked but not in despair. The mischief of their diligent 
plotting appeared in due time. 

While the Governor was absent from the State on the occasion 
of his visit to New Haven, the South Carolina Bank and Trust 
Company, one of the two institutions in which, but for his veto 
of the bill requiring it, all the funds of the State would have been' 
deposited, failed. During the previous Administration, this bank 
was the sole depositary of the public funds, having at times more 
than a million dollars in its keeping. The Governor had grad- 
ually reduced this amount ; but at the time of the failure it had 
about $200,000. Although some of the Governor's opponents 
attempted to fix blame upon him for this catastrophe, most per- 
sons recognized that his action had been sagacious and protective 
of the State's interests. The Netvs and Courier promptly said : 
" Any statements to the effect that, but for him, the State would 
have lost nothing are contrary to all the probabilities of the case, 
and must be classed with the numberless unreasonable rumors 
originating in the imaginations of excitable people, to which such 
an event as the failure of a bank always gives rise." 

Another incident of this period was the prosecution of Niles 
G. Parker, ex-Treasurer of South Carolina, several civil suits hav- 
ing been brought against him by the Sinking-Fund Commission- 
ers for the recovery of money alleged to have been wrongly taken 
from the State in the process of the conversion of the bonded 
debt. He was charged with stealing a large amount of coupons, 
and afterwards converting them into State bonds. The case was 
tried in June, and a verdict for $75,000 was obtained. By a 
habeas-corpus proceeding Parker was got out of jail and he left the 
State. In the trial a statement was made by one of the witnesses 



146 GOVe'rNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

» 
which afforded the enemies of the Governor much gratification 

for a Httle while ; but they soon discovered that nobody would 

give credence to it except those who had interested motives in 

aspersing him. This testimony was one of the things which led 

to the publication of the following report of a talk with the 

Governor in which several matters of current public interest were 

considered : 

[From the Charleston News and Courier, August 10, 1875.] 

A representative of the News and Courier had a long conversation 
with Governor Chamberlain a few days ago at his office in Columbia. 
The conversation extended over all the recent topics of public interest 
in our State, and was so full and explicit as to lead to the request that 
we might present to our readers such parts of it as would in our judg- 
ment be of interest to the public. 

The conversation opened with a reference to the recent absence of 
the Governor from the State, and the unfavorable comments, in some 
quarters, upon that absence. 

Governor Chamberlain said that he went north on the 25th of June, 
primarily to meet his engagement before the Yale Law School, and 
next with a view to find rest from the uninterrupted strain of ofiicia'l 
cares and labors which he had borne since last December. He 
stayed away, he said, no longer than was absolutely essential to his 
health. 

After some further conversation of a general nature, our representa- 
tive remarked that among the events occurring during the Governor's 
absence was the trial of ex-Treasurer Parker, and the testimony of 
Ladd that, in a conversation between Ladd and Parker, the latter had 
said that he understood that a part of the coupons ($50,000 worth) 
were set aside or apportioned to the Governor. The Governor -was 
asked if he proposed to make any public statement denying the truth 
of this testimony. He replied with much warmth of manner and tone 
that he would never volunteer a denial of such a charge ; that self- 
respect required him to wait till such a charge was put in a form which 
would enable him to meet it. 

It was suggested to the Governor that if he was willing to appear as 
a volunteer in denial of such matters, he might answer such questions 
as should be asked him. To this he assented, and said : " Certainly, 
I will answer questions to any extent ; but I will not appear before the 
public with a personal statement till somebody brings a direct charge 
against me." He added : " I shall answer any question you may ask 
with pleasure." 

The Governor was then asked if he recalled the testimony of Ladd 
in which allusion was made to himself. He replied that he did ; and 
our representative then said : "Weil, sir, is there any truth in the state- 



ADMINISTRATION. 1 47 

ment or inference that you received any part of the coupons referred 
to in Parker's case ? " 

Govertior. '' None, whatever ; it is a baseless falsehood, by whom- 
soever concocted, or repeated, or insinuated. It has not the slightest 
shadow of fact to rest upon." 

Questio/i. " Did you ever know of any division of coupons among 
any persons, such as was indicated in Parker's trial ? " 

Governor. " Never, sir. I never heard of such a thing, or of any 
transaction remotely resembling it till the public heard it on the trial 
of Parker." 

Question. Did you ever hear that any coupons were set aside for 
you, or did yoii ever receive, or hear that you were to receive, any 
coupons or any thing else as part of a division of coupons ? 

Governor. " Never. _ But you need not multiply questions. I say 
to you that the statement to which you allude is false in every actual or 
conceivable phase, degree, sense, or meaning. I not only never had 
any part or lot in, or knowledge of, such a transaction, but I never in 
any way owned, held, or was in any manner interested in any coupons 
or any thing connected with coupons, and I never even owned or held 
a consolidation bond. If you can frame a broader or more explicit 
denial of every thing connected with the coupon business, I will adopt it. 
I have no knowledge of it whatever, except what the public have 
through the investigations of last winter and the recent trial. If any 
man living can connect me in any way Avhatever with these coupons, let 
him come forward. I defy the world to do it." 

The Governor added that it was of course unpleasant and disgusting 
to have one's name connected with such transactions in any way, but 
that he could not be responsible for false and unfounded tales which 
might be told ; and no fair-minded man ought to be affected by such 
tales till there was something like evidence to support them. 

The Governor's attention was called to the subject of prosecutions 
generally against dishonest and unfaithful public officers, and he said 
with great emphasis : "I am in favor of holding every public officer to 
a rigid accountability, and if he violates the law I am i'n favor of his 
punishment. I shall do my whole duty in every such case. If I have 
any knowledge of dishonest transactions, I shall place it in the hands 
of those whose duty it is to prosecute offenders against the law. I will 
aid any man who is engaged in such a work in all possible ways. I 
confess, however, that I am not so interested in what is past and gone, 
as I am in what is present and coming. It will, I think, task all our 
energies to the utmost to stop up the open leaks and staunch the run- 
ning wounds. Another thing ; when prosecutions are started, if they 
are to command the public confidence, they must be so conducted as 
to give evidence that the motive actuating the State is the public good. 
The moment they seem to be used as political machines they will be 
worse than useless. Wherever I see or shall be shown an opportunity 
to aid in punishing crime or preventing crime, i shall do my duty ; 
and I venture now to say that I shall not be the first to cry, ' Hold, 



148 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

enough ! ' Time will show whether I or others will find prudential 
reasons for dealing gently with public offenders. In the meantime 
malicious rumors and tales that fill the air will not disturb me." 

The Governor continued the conversation by remarking that his 
powers and duties were greatly exaggerated in the public mind. In 
some States the Governor was authorized to direct suits and prosecu- 
tions to be brought in the interest of the State, but it is not so in this 
State. The public prosecuting officers are in no way made subject to 
his control. His powers are scarcely different from those of any citi- 
zen. If he discovers fraud he can only lay its evidences before the 
solicitors or the grand juries. In the actual prosecution of cases he 
has no voice or duty. He is bound to give all the facilities in his 
power, and to call attention to violations of law, but he cannot super- 
sede or control or advise, except by courtesy, -any prosecuting officer. 
If there is delay or failure to prosecute public causes, the responsibility 
is not with the Governor. 

The Governor's attention was called to the failure of Solomon's 
bank, and a long conversation ensued respecting it. He said that the 
failure of this bank was a grievous blow to the State, affecting the work 
of'consolidating the State debt, as well as embarrassing every depart- 
ment and interest of the State Government. Of its causes, he was not 
yet fully informed, nor what would be the probable amount realized 
from its assets. Referring to the State deposits in this bank at the 
time of its failure, the Governor said that if he had been as wise before 
as after the event, he should have tried to reduce the amount of the 
State deposits, but he now believed that any effort to draw out the 
State deposits at an earlier day would simply have hastened the failure 
of the bank. In regard to his own action, he said : " When I became 
Governor, one of the first and most unpleasant duties imposed upon 
me was that of providing other depositories than this bank for the 
public moneys. Mr. Solomon's bank had been the sole depository 
during the whole term of Governor Moses' administration and I tliink 
during the last term of Governor Scott's, and had had deposits amount- 
ing al times to one million of dollars. Still I felt that such a course 
was not safe. Mr. Cardozo heartily sustained me ; while Judge Hoge, 
then Comptroller General, and almost or quite every leading Republican 
in the State, warmly opposed my plan of appointing additional places 
of deposit. It must be remembered that this bank was very powerful 
with the party and in the Legislature. In discussing the subject with 
Mr. Solomon and the friends of the bank I invariably said that I did 
not discredit the bank, but I did insist that its capital and standing did 
not warrant its having more than a part of the State deposits, say 
$200,000, and that I was willing, in view of the strong sentiments of 
the friends of the bank, to allow this amount of deposit to remain in 
this bank longer than the deposits in other banks, as the money was 
drawn out for public use, but that the rest ought to be distributed 
among other banks. This course was adopted, and my action was 
aimed at keeping the deposits as low as $200,000. At times they were 



AD MINIS TEA TION. 1 49 

more and at times less, but did not, I believe, vary greatly during the 
winter from that amount. 

" In the month of April, after Mr. Dunn became Comptroller General, 
I called a meeting of the Board of Deposit, informing the other mem- 
bers that I wished it determined how large an amount of deposits, and 
for how long, should be placed in the different banks. I explained to 
Mr. Dunn, the Comptroller General, my course towards this bank and 
my reasons, and that I especially wished his advice in settling the ques- 
tion then pending. The amount of deposits in the Bank and Trust 
Company (the Solomon bank) was then about $160,000, the amount 
having been reduced below the usual figures The Board voted to fix 
the amount in that bank at $200,000, and to allow it to remain until 
needed for the July payments. This action was in accordance with 
all my previous action, and was based upon the same reason and con- 
siderations. Nothing had occurred in the meantime to give any hint 
of any increased weakness of the bank ; and its standing in the com- 
munity was then, I venture to assert, as high as ever. 

" No change took place in the affairs of the bank, to my knowledge, 
from this time till its failure. I did perceive, late in June, that Mr. 
Solomon seemed embarrassed in raising the amount which he was 
notified would be needed on July ist, but he gave no sign that it was 
more than a temporary embarrassment, and I left the State with no 
idea of his suspension or failure. I certainly sought to do my full 
duty by the State in this matter, and that, too, at great political expense 
to myself, as was well known by all who were in Columbia last winter. 
I was not all-wise or all-powerful. I did not foresee all that has come 
to pass. If others were wiser than I, I have no need to quarrel with 
them. I did all that I thought was my duty, and stood ready to do that 
at all times. The result has been unfortunate in the extreme, and, per- 
haps, no one man has so much cause to regret it as I have, but I do not 
reproach myself with any neglect or fault, so far as I can now see. If 
the result shall be to make it easier hereafter to banish all political and 
personal considerations from the determination of such questions, per- 
haps the gain will equal the present loss." 

The conversation turned upon the political situation of affairs in 
the State, and the Governor expressed the hope that the cause of good 
government was making substantial progress in the State. He said he 
did not fear that any combinations aiming to restore the misrule of the 
last two years would succeed. He relied on the support of all the 
thinking Republicans, who must now be satisfied that reform was the 
only good policy, to take no higher view of it. Speaking of the Con- 
servatives and their relations to him, he said : '' I have never failed to 
give full credit to the Conservative press of the State, for their hearty 
support of my course. They have shown the best of spirit and have 
rendered effective and absolutely indispensable aid. I believe they 
will continue to do so. There are carpers, malcontents, reactionary 
politicians among the Conservatives and the Conservative press, who 
seem to think it wise to seek to discredit me and my work, but I am 



I50 GOVERXOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

satisfied their influence is limited as their number is small. There 
are dozens of letters lying on this table from the best and most trusted 
men of this State deprecating such a course, and assuring me of 
their ardent and constant support. At any rate their course will not 
affect me. If I had been a man to take my public course from a de- 
sire to punish my enemies, jw/; know no man ever had greater tempta- 
tion to such a course than I had the day I took my seat as Governor. 
But the man does not live who ever heard me utter an unkind word to 
those who opposed me most bitterly in the political campaign. I bent 
all my efforts towards doing what I had promised to do, and I wel- 
comed every opportunity, whether official or personal, to serve the 
people — all the people — impartially. Now, if any Conservatives see fit 
to renew their attacks upon me they can do so with safety. They will 
never drive me to do an act, even in revenge, which will harm them. 
Through good report and evil report I shall hold on to the end. This 
is a matter of principle with me, and it matters not who stands by me 
or who deserts me. I shall stand by the cause of reform with few or 
many to sustain me." 

The Governor was asked what his relations were with the Adminis- 
tration at Washington, and he answered : " I understand that I am 
warmly sustained at Washington. I have not personally seen the 
President since I became Governor, but Senator Robertson assures me 
that the President is greatly gratified at the results of my Administra- 
tion, and others tell me the same. I do know that every member of 
the Cabinet has expressed his most cordial approval of my course and 
the results already reached. They feel that a heavy load is removed 
from the Republican party, and that the prosperity of the State has in 
every way been promoted. In my visit to the North recently I heard 
but one voice, that of approval of my efforts and approval of the wise, 
prudent, statesmanlike attitude of the South Carolina Conservatives. 
I heard not one word of dissent anywhere from this view, and I met 
the ablest and best men of both parties. Their only anxiety was to 
know whether we had wisdom enough here to hold on as we had begun, 
and press forward to a practical union of all good citizens of all races 
in a determined effort to put down bad government and restore hon- 
esty and ability to public stations. If we can do this, we shall have 
the sympathy of good men. Republicans and Democrats, all over the 
Union." 

The Governor's attention was called to the tax bill passed last ses- 
sion and not yet approved, and the question was asked if his views 
had undergone any change in regard to it. He replied that his views 
of that bill had not changed, that -there were features of it which he 
could not conscientiously approve under any circumstances. He said 
that the failure of the Bank and Trust Comj^any would make it neces- 
sary to modify the bill, and that he believed the Legislature would itself 
see the benefit of a new bill. He was anxious to have no difference 
between himself and the Legislature, and if that body, when they met, 
would devote themselves in good faith to the work of perfecting a tax 



ADMINISTRATION. \^l 

levy, there need be no delay in passing such a bill as would satisfy all 
honest citizens. 

This talk by its candor and boldness, not less than on account 
of its explicit declarations, was read with great interest, the evi- 
dence of which promptly appeared in the comments of the press 
of the State, a few of which are here presented. 

We have not needed any disclaimers from the Governor to lead us to reject as un- 
true the insinuations of thieves. In spite of the sneers of scoundrels, character goes 
for something, and it takes more than the unsubstantiated hints of public plunderers and 
their sympathizers to break down the record of a pure life. There is a class of men 
in every community who profess to disbelieve in honor or patriotism. They are desti- 
tute themselves of such characteristics, and, as the prostitute laughs at the existence 
of virtue in other women, these political bawds habitually sneer at the idea of honesty 
in man. To such the attitude of Governor Chamberlain is at once an injury and a dan- 
ger. Because he fails to smile when they laugh at reform, because he does not assent 
when they sneer at honesty, they hate him. His acts they might forgive if he were 
only a self-seeking hypocrite. But when they find him steadfastly abiding by his 
pledges, because they are pledges, they pursue the tactics of the street walker and at- 
tempt to drag him down to a level with themselves. — Columbia Union Herald (Rep.). 



Governor Chamberlain could not take a position more clearly than he has in this 
conversation. However dubious his conduct may appear, there is certainly no am- 
biguity in his language. He speaks with the boldness of innocence. . . . The 
course mapped out by Governor Chamberlain is a noble one, and will, if persisted in, 
be of the greatest benefit to the people. If he moves straight on he will have the hearty 
co-operation of the whole Conservative party. — Winnsboro' News (Dem.). 



Governor Chamberlain's entire conversation was very outspoken and explicit. He 
made use of no ambiguities to serve as loopholes of escape. He has planted himself 
firmly upon his record, and defies his accusers. . . . No frauds have ever yet been 
proven against Governor Chamberlain. The suspicions attaching to his past career 
have -arisen chiefly from the bad company he kept when Attorney General. Against 
these he pledges his solemn word of denial. . . . We are pleased to see that Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain proposes to pursue the line of policy he has begun. The Conser- 
vative party recognizes his ability and usefulness, and as it has labored with him for 
the past nine months, it will continue to support him strongly in any measure that is 
for the public good. — Columbia Phwnix (Dem.). 



Mr. Chamberlain has spoken opportunely, and his words have the ring of the true 
• metal. Many who have been disposed to question the sincerity of his professions will 
now cease to find fault and lend him their undivided support. Being the ablest and 
purest man in the dominant party, he has become a necessity to the welfare of the .State, 
and it behooves all good citizens to stand by him while he seeks to secure for them good 
government. — Camden Jotttnal (Dem.). 



152 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

It is now acknowledged by the Governor lliat he is not much interested in un- 
earthing the pecadilloes of former Administrations with which he was connected, and 
this was exactly the reason for discrediting his pretences. It is our belief that genuine 
reform means a vigorous and unceasing pursuit of former thieves and plunderers, and 
acting upon this belief we have unhesitatingly demanded that no sham or pretence be 
palmed off upon the people of South Carolina, no matter whether it affected the high- 
est or the lowest. With Governor Chamberlain's efforts to staunch the wounds and 
stop the leaks in the hereafter, we shall not cavil or condemn unnecessarily, always 
holding tenaciously to the principle that it is the duty of the Conservatives to maintain 
an armed neutrality between the different factions of the Republican party, wresting 
from the present whatever is best calculated to advance the highest interests of the 
State, and not become the champions or adherents of any particular faction. — Anderson 
Intelligence}- (Dem.). 



Early in November Governor Chamberlain made a visit to 
Charleston, the first since he was elected Governor. The occa- 
sion was seized upon by citizens of all parties to testify their re- 
spect and confidence. On the evening of November 4th he was 
tendered a complimentary serenade by Republican party clubs, 
and in expectation of his response an immense audience, com- 
posed of citizens of all parties anxious to see an^ hear him, 
gathered in the open air. The Charleston News and Courier of 
the next morning said : " The serenade to Governor Chamberlain, 
last night, was eminently successful. At least five thousand per- 
sons were present who received the address of the Governor with 
hearty applause." The following report of the address delivered 
by him is from the same paper : 

Fellow-Citizens of Charleston : — You do me great honor in calling 
me before you to-night by this demonstration. T accept it and value 
it as an evidence that, as a public officer, I have done some things 
which have met your approval. I rejoice to meet my fellow-citizens 
of Charleston, and to pay my respects, as it were, to the chief city of 
our State. This city has a great stake in the welfare of the Stale, her 
influence upon all our public interests is commanding, and her pre- 
eminence is the just result of the intelligence, enterprise, and liberality 
of her citizens. It is a special pleasure, therefore, to me, to feel to- 
night that I have the confidence of the people of Charleston in my 
efforts to do my duty as a public officer. It is a result which 1 have a 
right to believe comes from your actual observation of my public con- 
duct, for I do not forget that I did not have the honor of receiving a 
majority of the votes of this city one year ago. But 1 have never im- 
agined I was elected to be the servant or agent of my friends alone, or 
to be the servant or agent of any political party alone. Holding my 



A DMINIS TRA TION. I 5 5 

present ofifice as simply a trust, I have constantly endeavored to keep 
in mind that that trust was to be held and administered for the benefit 
of all our people, without regard to race or party. 

The only just basis for a political party is a certain view of 
the manner in which the powers of the Government should be ex- 
ercised, the principles and methods by which public affairs should be 
conducted. It is not power or office merely which a party should seek, 
but power and office must be sought as the means and opportunity of 
increasing the purity, the efficiency, the beneficence of the Government. 
Holding such views, I conceive that the just bounds of party obligation 
are greatly transcended whenever public office is used to promote per- 
sonal or party ends to the neglect of the best interests of the whole 
people. [Cheers.] 

I do not wish to disguise the fact that among the circumstances 
which have given some significance to my administration, has been my 
refusal to be a slave to the demands of party. In the course I have j 
pursued in this respect, I have simply done an unquestioned duty. I ( 
never promised, and I was never asked to promise, and I never would \ 
have promised, that I would approve a measure or make an appoint- ) 
ment which I could not justify on its merits. And, let me add, if I had 
done so, I should have struck the deepest possible blow at the strength 
and permanency of the party which elected me. 

No ! fellow-citizens, I have been entrusted with the great office of 
Governor of this State, and with many errors of judgment, no doubt, 
with many shortcomings of ability, I know, I have, nevertheless, hon- 
estly labored to do that which would best promote the common welfare 
of all the people. If any act done in the pursuit of such an aim has 
hurt my political party, then all I can say is, that that party deserved 
to be hurt. I offer no apology for putting the public welfare above all 
other considerations in my official action. I should owe an apology if 
I had done otherwise. [Prolonged cheering.] 

I rejoice to be able to add that, in my judgment, the day is past in 
South Carolina, never to return, when good will be rejected or wrong 
accepted, because done in the name of any party. Here, as elsewhere, 
throughout our country, men are more and more subordinating party 
interests to public interests ; more and more regarding good govern- 
ment as an infinitely better thing than party power ; more and more . 
perceiving that, in the long run, that party will prevail which keeps 
most steadily in view the faithful and impartial discharge of the great 
functions of government in the interests of all the people. Well, 
I for one welcome such a sentiment. I have valued my party be- 
cause I thought it the best representative of freedom, of equality of 
civil and political rights, of the ideas embodied in our Declaration of 
Independence andour republican form of government ; but my attach- 
ment to my ..party does not extend one step beyond this. That is the 
full measure of my party fealty. [Cheers.] 

I value this expression of your confidence the more highly, therefore, 
because having dared on some occasions to oppose the wishes of per- 



154 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

haps a majority of my own party, I seem still, here in this centre of 
influence of the State, to have merited, in their judgment, the approval 
of my fellow-citizens of both parties. 

Fellow-citizens, no man will dispute that our State needs reform in 
nearly every department of the public service. If something has already 
been done to stay the downward course of things, it is but abeginning of 
the work. The conditions of this problem are inherently adverse. 
The progress will be slow and gradual ; yet, I think all good citizens 
may now feel that the time for better things has begun. 

And what, fellow-citizens, are those better things ? What are the 
changes in our present condition which are most needed ? 

To my view, our first need is, what you have already largely secured 
here in Charleston, a cordial union, a harmonious working together, of 
both races in this State. The interests of our two races are identical. 
"V^^t injures the one, injures the other. What helps the one, helps the 
other. Granted, as a common platform, equal and impartial equality be- 
fore the law, what is then to put a barrier of distrust or antagonism be- 
tween the two races ? Absolutely nothing. Our commercial, agricultural, 
manufacturing, educational interests are the common concerns of 
every man. If the merchant of Charleston prospers under good gov- 
ernment and low taxes, the clerk and the drayman who serve him 
prosper. The prosperity of the factor and the planter is the prosperity 
of the laborer who tills the field. The taxes that oppress our lands or 
merchandise, the extravagance or misrule which impoverishes the 
property-holders and drives away capital, reaches down and touches the 
humblest man, no matter what his pursuit, who earns his daily bread 
in the sweat of his face. There is, there can be, no separation of in- 
terest between classes or races, between rich and poor, landed or land- 
less, in any of those matters which affect the general conditions of 
society. What is really good for the chief capitalists of this city in 
matters of government, is good for all, however poor or obscure. A 
recognition of this fact, and a' complete union of all who do recognize 
it, is the first step in the march of this people towards true and lasting 
prosperity. [Applause.] Following such a union should come the 
determination to test all public measures and all public men by the 
invariable standard of their fitness and capacity to promote the com- 
mon good. Let us have no more of the delusion that public office is 
valuable for its emoluments. Let us have no more of the other delu- 
sion, that measures which promote the interests of party only are the 
proper work of our legislators. In State, in county, and in city, we 
want a higher standard of public aim and service. 

But, fellow-citizens, all other demands at the present moment are 
subordinate, merged in two great demands — first, for a great reduction 
of the burdens of taxation throughout the whole State ; and second, for 
an honest expenditure of the public moneys for ])ublic ends. [Loud 
cheers.] These constitute good government for South Carolina to-day. 
These are the planks of the platform of the party with which I pro- 
pose to march hereafter. These are the things which will open the 



A DM INI S TRA TION. I 5 5 

way to that restoration and reconstruction which South Carolina most 
needs. 

One special word respecting the great subject of taxation. I 
undertake to say here to-night that no people in the Union pay their 
taxes with greater promptness and cheerfulness than the people' of 
South Carolina. Such conduct entitles the tax-paying people of this 
State to have their voice heard on this vital question of taxation. They 
ought to be heard ; they must be heard. 

I say here to-night that this people ought at once to be relieved of 
one third of the taxes which they have paid for the last six years. I 
say that this can be done without the least detriment to any public in- 
terest. I can sit down with any man or body of men who will look at 
the subject with a desire to do their duty, and I can point out in detail, 
specifically, item by item, the way in which this can be done. . , 

If the Legislature at its next session will co-operate with me, I 
undertake to say that all our State taxation can be reduced below one 
per cent. And now, who is there bold enough to stand up here to-night 
and say that this ought not to be done ? No man, no man, dare avow 
such a purpose. [Long applause.] 

. While hard times are pressing upon us, while nearly every man who 
listens to me, or lives in the State, is practising economy, why should 
this public extravagance go on ? It is a wrong that should be pre- 
vented, without delay and without question. And what I say of the 
State expenditures applies, I believe, with equal truth to your county 
and city expenditures. The time has come when the public necessities 
should limit our public expenditures, and not the insatiate demands of 
individuals or combinations of individuals, who climb into power to 
grow rich from the public treasury. 

The second great demand, I have said, is an honest and frugal ex- 
penditure of the funds which the people contribute for public purposes. 
If our taxes could not be reduced, the grievance would be far less if the 
people could feel that the taxes went to support public interests. If 
public improvements were the result of heavy taxation, if our public 
institutions showed the result of liberal and bountiful support, if our 
schools flourished under the generous bounty of the State, we should 
be able better to endure the burden. But what shall any honest man 
say of all these great public concerns ? Who will show me public im- 
provements ? What is the condition of our public institutions of charity 
or correction ? What shall be said of our public schools ? 

Our public moneys are largely wasted, and that is worse even than 
the burden of taxation. 

Fellow-citizens, these things must be reformed, and the public 
sentiment of Charleston can do much, very much, to make this demand 
heard and obeyed. I call upon every man, in whatsoever station, to 
emphasize and repeat these demands. They concern equally the moral 
and the material welfare of our State. 

For myself, I stand ready to come up to the full measure of my 
duty, if I know what it \». I will keep abreast of the most advanced 



156 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

public sentiment on these subjects. I welcome aid from any and all 
quarters in this great work. I will regard him as better than a political 
friend, who, differing however widely from me in party associations, 
shall unite with me in securing these great results of good government. 
I will esteem him an enemy who, professing however loudly his party 
fealty, shall aid in adding to the burden of taxation or in using public 
funds for individual gain. The great results of good government 
are impartial administration of the law, an economical administration 
of public funds, moderate and reasonable taxation. All these blessings 
are within our reach, if we are united and determined in demanding 
them. They are our chief public concerns at the present time. 

Whatever the changing fortunes of political parties in the nation at 
large, these things will remain for years to come the true aim of our 
people. It is a work worthy of our highest efforts. To found this 
State was the work of our fathers ; to rebuild it, to rescue it from the 
misfortunes of war, the waste of misgovernment, — this is our work. 
And, fellow-citizens, we have, aiding us in this good work, the auspi- 
cious era of our National Centennial. We do not know or feel, I 
think, how greatly the hearts of the American people of both sections 
will be drawn to each other as the great celebration of our national 
birth comes on. We have caught a little of its influence at Lexington 
and Bunker Hill, but the full tide will sweep over us at Philadelphia 
on the Fourth of July next. 

Then let us hope that, under the full influences of those feelings 
which bound our fathers of the South and North to the great cause of 
American freedom and independence, we may find it easy to go forward 
to the completion of their great work, the accomplishment of their 
hopes and aims, the perpetuation for all coming generations of a nation 
wherein universal and impartial freedom shall show its perfect work. 

With this hope, fellow-citizens, and with my thanks for your wel- 
come, I bid you. Good-night. [Prolonged cheering.] 

A special meeting of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce 
was held November 4th, at which, after the transaction of busi- 
ness relating to an application to Congress for an appropriation 
for the improvement of Charleston Harbor, the following action 
was taken : 

The President announced that Gov. Chamberlain was in Charleston, and called 
attention to the marked courtesy and consideration he had always showed the Cham- 
ber. He thought it proper that the Governor should be invited to meet the members 
of the Chamber in this hall. 

Col. W. L. Trenholm submitted the following resolutions, which were seconded 
by Mr. James T. Welsman, and unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That his Excellency, the Governor, be invited by the Chamber of Com- 
merce to meet the members of the Chamber at such an hour to-morrow (Friday) as 
may be most agreeable to him. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. I 5 / 

Resolved, That the president be requested to convey this invitation, and to ap- 
point a suitable committee for the purpose. 

Resolved, That the president be requested to call a meeting of the Chamber to re- 
ceive his Excellency. 

The president appointed on this committee Messrs. James T. Welsman, F. W. 
Dawson, and J. Adger Smyth. 

This commitee promptly waited upon the Governor to present 
the invitation, and it was arranged that he should visit the Chamber 
at 2 o'clock the next day. A special meeting was called for that 
hour. Of this meeting the Charleston Netvs and Courier (Novem- 
ber 6th) said : " The meeting was the largest and most influential 
that has been seen for a long time, and among those present 
were most of the oldest and most prominent merchants and busi- 
ness men in the city." When the Governor appeared, escorted 
by the committee, the President of the Chamber, S. Y. Tupper, 
Esq., made the following address : 

Governor Chamberlain : — It affords us pleasure to receive you in 
our halls of commerce. This Chamber recognizes substantial benefits 
to our business community from your intelligent administration, and I 
gladly take this occasion to acknowledge repeated acts of courtesy on 
your part towards us in your prompt and considerate action upon all 
measures of reform which have been brought to your notice. This, sir, 
is not a political body. The rage and petulance of party never enter 
here. For nearly a century the efforts of this Chamber have been 
directed to a proper regulation of trade and the general interests of 
commerce in Charleston. Whatever tends to the promotion of these 
objects, and whoever aids us in the accomplishment of our wishes, must 
meet with our warmest sympathy and regard. We are happy to say to 
you that our city prospers. The industry and enterprise of our mer- 
chants have overcome great obstacles. We believe that there is yet a 
glorious future for Charleston. But, sir, the trammels of heavy taxa- 
tion must be removed from our business men and public credit re- 
stored before a healthy confidence can exist and capital feel secure in 
coming hither. This can only be effected by the continued exposure 
and punishment of frauds upon the Treasury, and the destruction of 
those corrupt influences which have been to us the direful spring of all 
our woes — of disorder, prodigality, an unmanageable debt, crime, and 
repudiation. We are sensible of the efforts that your Excellency has 
been making, during a wise administration, for the remedy of these 
evils. Your courage in defence of the right and condemnation of what 
is wrong — rising superior to all faction or party — merits our hearty ap- 
probation and applause. We desire to encourage and strengthen your 
hands in the good work of reform, knowing that in these evil days 
malignity and disappointment will carp at and assail whoever attempts 
retrenchment and the exposure of fraud in our public affairs. We wish 



158 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

you all success in the further discharge of the responsible duties of 
your office, and again tender you a sincere welcome to the commercial 
metropolis of the State. [Applause.] 

Gov. Chamberlain then said : 

Mr. Tupper, and gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce of Charleston : 

This is, indeed, an unexpected pleasure and compliment. It has 
not been within the range of my hope and ambition, that if, at any 
time, I should be entitled to the support and gratitude of the people of 
Charleston, it would entitle me to the great honor you do me to-day. 
I accept it with the most sincere gratitude, and to you especially, Mr. 
President, for the very kind manner in which you have referred to my 
course of administration, as regards public measures. You do not expect 
me, gentlemen, to come here and say any thing instructive to you, upon 
those interests which you have peculiarly in charge. My duty is to pro- 
tect all the interests of the State, so far as the faithful discharge of my 
public duties will affect them. I have already said to the citizens of 
Charleston that it is the sinking of party feeling, in the presence of the 
common concern, which is the fundamental principle of unity and pros- 
perity, and that, I believe, the intelligent gentlemen who surround me 
have done and are ready to do. This demonstration of kindly feeling 
from the business men of Charleston strengthens me. I feel stronger to- 
day in the path of duty than I have felt since I entered upon the very 
arduous and thorny pathway of Goveror of South Carolina. And I feel 
that you will have your reward, in the knowledge that you have strength- 
ened me in my attempt to remedy some of the obstacles that lie in the 
way of prosperity to South Carolina. I believe, with all my heart, that 
there is in store for Charleston and South Carolina a very bright future, 
and I was greatly gratified this summer while at the North, in conversa- 
tion with gentlemen of great financial experience and knowledge, to 
hear expressed the opinion that Charleston was the soundest com- 
mercial community south of Baltimore. These gentlemen remarked 
that immediately after the war Charleston seemed to display less enter- 
prise, to embark in fewer hazardous transactions, than many other of 
her sister cities, and yet now she was acknowledged and recognized as 
the soundest Southern commercial community. All I can say is that I 
trust that Charleston will pursue the serene and even tenor of her way. 
Let her not be disturbed too much by ])olitical differences. Let us 
unite in strengthening each other's hands. If I have done any thing 
which meets with the approval of the people in South Carolina in the 
administration of her affairs, it was simply my duty, and you may rest 
assured that my best services shall be devoted to the commercial inter- 
ests of Charleston. The utmost I can say is to heartily thank you for 
your thoughtfulness in recognizing the efforts I have made to serve 
you. I have been sincerely engaged in working for the welfare of 
South Carolina, and the most valued testimonial that I have received 
is the testimonial this day extended to me by the business men of 
Charleston. [Applause.] 



ADMINIS TEA TION. I 5 9 

The speech of the Governor to the people of Charleston on 
the occasion of the serenade was everywhere regarded as a nota- 
ble utterance. The high ideal of public office as a trust to be 
held and administered for the benefit of all, without regard to 
race or party, appealed powerfully to a people who had suffered 
grievously by the absence of that motive in their officials. Some 
of the comments elicited are here given : 

The address of Governor Chamberlain to the citizens of Charleston, last night, is 
admirable in every respect. Mr. Chamberlain is a Republican, but he asks for the 
aid of all good citizens, of all men who love South Carolina, in reducing taxation 
and securing an honest expenditure of the public money. And the aid he asks it is 
the duty, and the interest, of the Conservative Democracy of the State to extend to 
him, in his efforts to give the State a faithful and capable as vi^ell as an economical 
government. We have no right to expect Governor Chamberlain to abandon his 
party, but we have on the record his assurance that fealty--tQ party shall never lead 
him to do any act which is injurious to the people of the State. To that pledge we 
hold him, by his fidelity to that pledge will he be judged, and by our conduct in up- 
I holding and sustaining him, in the fight that is before him, will our devotion to South 
Carolina be measured and determined. — Charleston News and Courier. 



The views to which the Governor gives expression are very good, and if he will 
make them deeds instead of words he shall most certainly have the hearty support of 
\ all true Carolinians. — Anderson Intelligencer (Dem.). 



The Governor strikes the key-note in this speech. It is not only truthful and pa- 
triotic, but a bold and manly declaration that he intends to rise above party and do 
his duty to the State at all hazards, relying upon the good men of both parties and 
races to sustain him. While the Governor does not abate one jot or tittle of his party 
fealty, he gives it to be distinctly understood that he is not the. slave of party, and will 
not support any measure or party that does not tend to advance the interest of South 
Carolina. This is true statesmanship, and is all that we need to redeem the State. — 
Barnwell Sentinel (Dem.). 



The Conservatives of this State have always avowed that an honest administration 

of public affairs, and not party supremacy, was the object for which they contended. 

Their record in the past has proven this to be true. If we have any hope then of 

improving our condition under a Republican Administration (and there is little likeli- 

) hood of any other for several years to come), the present is the best opportunity we 

twill have to make the effort. • Mr. Chamberlain is the strongest man of his party in 
the State. No other could wield greater influence with it for good purposes. — Green- 
1 ville Enterprise (Dem.). 



Heretofore it has been the custom with our Republican rulers to put the success 
of party before the good of the State, and from this mistaken policy has flowed all 



l6o GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

manner of evils. Now the title has changed, and we hope for better things. — Abbe- 
ville Medium (Dem.). 



Gov. Chamberlain, of South Carolina, is a man whose utterances excite our admi- 
ration every time. As old John Winthrop said of Roger Williams in good Old 
Colony times, "he seems to have the root of the matter in him." — Boston Herald 
(Ind.). 



In response to a serenade at Charleston, Thursday evening, Governor Chamber- 
lain made a speech which will do him good, and South Carolina good, and the coun- 
try good. — Springfield Republican (Ind.) 



The hearty reception given to Governor Chamberlain by the Chamber of Com- 
merce of Charleston, and the congratulations he received upon the reforms of his 
Administration and the increasing prosperity of South Carolina, ought to convey a 
wholesome lesson to the Northern men whom accident has made Chief Executives of 
Southern States. Governor Chamberlain has apparently fulfilled his pledges in good 
faith, and the result is that his labors in behalf of the State are fully appreciated by 
the people. The case of Governor Chamberlain forcibly illustrates the truth of the 
proverb, " Honesty is the best policy, " even in politics. — Washington {D. C.) Star 
(Ind.). 



We publish the chief portion of a recent address delivered at Charleston, S. C, 
by Governor Chamberlain, which will amply repay the most careful perusal. The 
address should be framed in gold and hung in the study of every Governor through- 
out the Union, and in the government offices at Washington. Governor Chamber- 
lain is a notable exception among the Republican rulers of the South, and his 
address is a manly expression of sentiments truly honest and patriotic. We commend 
it to the earnest and careful study of Governor Kellogg, with the hope that he will 
read, mark, and inwardly digest it. — New Orleans Bulletin (Dem.), 



On the 8th of November Governor Chamberlain issued a proc- 
lamation appointing the 25th day of the same month to be 
observed as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise, and among other 
reasons for gratitude to divine Providence he enumerated the 
blessings " of increasing harmony and good-will among our people, 
of progress towards good government, of a greater desire for 
purity and integrity in public and private relations, and of a more 
intelligent and earnest endeavor to make ourselves worthy of the 
heritage of civil and religious freedom which we have received 
from our fathers." 



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CHAPTER XII. 

Meeting of the Legislature in its Second Session — Governor Chamberlain's Second 
Annual Message — Veto of the Tax and Supply Bill Passed at the Former Session 
— The Veto Unanimously Sustained — Comments on the Message and the Veto 
by the State Press. 



WHEN the Legislature reassembled for the annual session 
of 1875-76, all the political elements of the State were 
once more in activity. While it was apparent that the Governor 
had greatly strengthened himself during the recess by the consist- 
ent development of his policy of administration, as well as by 
many public addresses that had created among the intelligent 
people of the State a genuine pride in his accomplishments and 
reputation, it was well known that his opponents in the Legisla- 
ture had improved the time in devising means to make their op- 
position more effectual. There had been no ^ign of submission 
or conciliation, and the feeling was universal that the meeting 
of that body was the precursor of a fresh conflict, in which the 
Governor's resources and courage would be put to severer tests 
than had yet challenged his metal. In what shape the attack 
would be made did not clearly appear, although it was surmised. 
On November 23d, the day of the meeting of the Legislature, 
Governor Chamberlain transmitted the Annual Message, setting 
forth the condition of the State's affairs, and making recommen- 
dations regarding the business that would come before the body, 
and he also communicated a Special Message vetoing the annual 
tax, or supply, bill, passed at the close of the preceding session. 
Both these messages are of peculiar importance in the formation 
of a judgment of the motives and measures of his Administration. 
They demonstrate, as certainly as official documents of this 
character may, the absolute and unyielding sincerity of Governor 
Chamberlain's reform policy. There is no suggestion of resting 

161 



1 62 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

satisfied, no compromise of purpose, no slackening of devotion, no 
weariness in well doing. His policy of reform was aspiring and 
progressive, — 

Built of futherance and pursuing, 
Not of spent deed but of doing. 

It will be noted, also, that while the tone of both these mes- 
sages is constant and firm, they contain no word of defiance 
or provocation. The assumption throughout is that all who are 
responsible for the State's welfare will, with a willing purpose, 
strive to accomplish it, and to that end will act upon the best 
obtainable information and counsel. His recommendations with 
regard to the contingent fund and the property designed for the 
Governor's residence, show how he exemplified in his own con- 
duct the ideal of public responsibility he urged upon others. 
But these documents require no anticipatory reinforcement of 
their merit. They are plain instructions. 

The Annual Message follows. 



Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, November 23, 1875. 
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I welcome you on your return to the scenes of your public duties. 
The period since your separation has witnessed the death of but two 
of your number ; peace and health have prevailed throughout the 
State ; the labor of all classes of our citizens has been rewarded by a 
large degree of material prosperity ; the causes of discontent and hos- 
tility among our people have been greatly diminished ; and the feeling 
of respect and attachment to the Union, of which our State is a part, 
has been sensibly strengthened. For these blessings we owe our sin- 
cere gratitude to the great Ruler of the world. 

In presenting to you such information and views respecting public 
affairs as I deem important, I express the hope that we shall bring to 
the discharge of our present duties a deep and constant feeling that we 
are simply the servants and representatives of the whole people of the 
State. The honors and emoluments of public office are merely inci- 
dental to its duties and responsibilities. To seek the former and dis- 
regard the latter is an offence against the first principles of moral and 
official obligation. Those to whom we owe our present positions will 
justly measure us by the standard of our fidelity to the trusts confided 
to us. I invoke, therefore, upon our deliberations and labors at this 
session the spirit of fidelity, of patriotism, of earnest co-operation in 



A D MINIS TRA TIOiV. 1 63 

the measures best suited to advance the great interests of the State. 
I shall endeavor, for myself, to lend all my powers to the work of 
assisting the General Assembly in the proper discharge of its high du- 
ties. I shall be best content to follow you in the path of reform, econ- 
omy, and good administration. That path I shall surely follow, whether 
with few or many, but I trust I shall hereafter find it made broad and 
clear before me by those who alone have the power to enact into laws 
the demands of the people 

The amount of taxes levied and collected, the methods of their 
levy and collection, and the objects upon which they are expended, are 
the most important subjects with which the State Government has to deal. 
By the present assessment of real property, which was made in 1874, 
the total value of real property in the State is $90,095,407. While there 
are, no doubt, individual instances of error and hardship in the present 
valuation, yet, so far as my information extends, the general result is 
as fair as can reasonably be expected. If the individual taxpayer 
will avail himself of the means afforded by the present laws for 
his protection against unequal or excessive assessments, I think the 
instances will be very rare in which injustice will be finally done. At 
the last session of the General Assembly, the " taxation and assess- 
ment " Acts were carefully revised, and an additional Act relating to " for- 
feited " lands was passed. The tax laws of the State are now, in my 
judgment, well adapted to secure, in the language of the Consti- 
tution, " equality and uniformity " in the assessment of property for 
taxation. The total valuation of personal property under the assess- 
ment of 1875 is $46,791,006, in which is included a considerable 
amount of personal property which has hitherto escaped taxation. 

I am happy to express my belief that the tax laws of the State are 
now administered with fairness and ability, and no instances are known 
to me in which complaints duly presented have not received due con- 
sideration. The results are highly creditable to the people, as well as 
to our tax officers. In an aggregate tax for the past year of $1,555,- 
201.68, only $12,519.47 have been returned as nulla bona,\>€vi\^ less 
than four fifths of one per cent. In 1872 the returns of nulla bona 
amounted to $48,392.77, and in 1873 to $51,363.90. 

During the past year, under the decision of the United States Su- 
preme Court, the entire property of the Northeastern Railroad Com- 
pany, and a large part of the property of the South Carolina Railroad 
Company, has been subjected to taxation. The question of the liability 
of the property of the Savannah and Charleston Railroad Company, 
and the Air Line Railroad Company, is still pending in the United 
States Courts ; and in the meantime the State authorities are enjoined 
from enforcing the collection of any taxes on their property. It is be- 
lieved that during the present year final decisions favorable to the State 
will be reached in these cases, and thus several millions be added to 
the taxable property of the State. 

I have no specific recommendation to make upon the subject of our 
tax laws, but I shall warmly favor any changes which may promise 



l64 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

greater efficiency or fairness in the administration of this department 
of government. 

In the matter of expenditures, I have the satisfaction of saying that 
great advances have been made during the past year towards a proper 

'""Th^'^entTrrippropriation for legislative expenses for the fiscal year 
was ^1% ooo The appropriation under this head for he precedmg 
f 'cal yL'r was $190,000; while the average cost of a regular session of 
the General Assembly from 1868 to 1873, mclusive, was $320,405.16 
t e cost of the regular session of 1S71-72, reachmg as high an amount 
asV6i7 2,4 In honorable contrast with former years, it should also 
be mentioned that no obligations have been issued or mcurred by the 
officers of the General Assembly during the past year, m excess of the 
annrouriations made. . . ., • 

The intolerable abuses of former years in connection with contin- 
gent funds have also been in a great degree removed. The entire 
fmount appropriated during the past year for the contingent funds of 
an the Executive offices, including the contingent und of the Supreme 
Court and the special litigation fund of the Attorney General of 
%n .00 was $15,250. The entire appropriation for legislative contin- 
gent expenses was $13,000. The corresponding appropriations for the 
fiscal yLr 1873-74 were, respectively, $47,100 and $32,500, showing a 
decreare in the 'aggregate of about sixty-five per cent, in favor of the 

^''''Bu['fhJ'g''a'in to public morality and economy is still greater when 
we consider the fact that all Executive contingent funds have been 
drawn during the past year on vouchers appproved by and filed with 
Ue Comptroller General.' Accountability and publicity, the two chief 
safeguards of official integrity, have thus been secured. For he 
last fiscal year the Governor's contingent fund was reduced from he 
prev^us annual average of $25,000 to $3,000, and at the end of the 
vear the sum of $247.04 remained undrawn. I herewith transmit to 
Ihe General Assembly a detailed statement of the disbursement of this 
fund, in accordance with the requirements of section 7 of the last gen- 

"'VS^Sl^n l!!:^^ been made at the last session by an Act entitled 
" \n Act relative to contracts for the Executive Departments of the 
State Government, and for the General Assembly (Acts of 1874-75, 
pacre 958), for supplying the Executive Departments and the General 
Assembly with full and stationery, to be paid for by an appropriation 
from the phosphate royalties, it is obvious that the appropriations for 
contingent expenses to be made by the general appropriation Act of 
the present year should be greatly reduced. 

I have already presented the favorable contrast between the appro- 
priation of the last year for legislative expenses and those of former 
vears The pay of members of the General Assembly being provided 
for by an annual salary and mileage, the amount of money necessary 



A D MI A' IS TEA TIOiV. 1 6 5 

for this purpose is determinate. The other items of legislative ex- 
penses are the pay of the subordinate officers and attachees, and the 
contingent accounts. The amount of these items will depend chiefly 
on the length of the session, and thus will afford full opportunity for 
the exercise of economy. With a session of from thirty to fifty days in 
length the entire amount of the appropriation necessary for legislative 
expenses for the present year can be brought within $120,000. The 
item of contingent legislative expenses will be nearly eliminated by the 
provision already made for fuel and stationery. 

I most urgently urge upon your honorable bodies the propriety, in 
every view of the matter, of as brief a session as can be made compat- 
ible with the enactment of the necessary measures of legislation. Such 
a result would be of incalculable benefit to our State, not only in re- 
ducing the expenses of the legislative department, but in the wholesome 
and long-needed example it would furnish. 

But there is one measure of legislative reform which I urge at this 
time as more vital and important than all others. I mean the mode of 
auditing and paying legislative expenses and claims passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly. In m.y Inaugural Address, one year ago, I presented 
my views upon this point, and I can do little more at the present time 
than to reiterate them, and to add that my present greater familiarity 
with the subject increases my conviction of their correctness. 

It is a proposition which no one can dispute, that a permanent, 
public, accessible record should be kept of the disbursement of every 
dollar of the public funds. It is equally undeniable that all accounts 
calling for the expenditure of public funds should be audited by some 
officer who is officially responsible for the performance of this duty. 

The present method of payment of legislative accounts does not 
meet these requirements of good administration. I therefore repeat 
my former recommendation, " that all payments to be made on ac- 
count of legislative expenses, or claims passed by the General Assem- 
bly, be made by the State Treasurer, upon warrants drawn by the 
Comptroller General, for which the vouchers shall be filed with the 
Comptroller General." 

In the payment of members, subordinate officers, attachees, etc., the 
only voucher requisite would be a duly certified list of all persons who 
hold these positions. The Comptroller General having satisfied him- 
self of the correctness of the lists furnished by the' officers of the Gen- 
eral Assembly and the authority of law for their payment, would then 
draw his warrant upon the Treasurer for the proper sums of money. 

In the payment of contingent expenses each branch of the General 
Assembly would, by committee or otherwise, make such audit as might 
be deemed necessary of such accounts and order their payments. The 
vouchers thus accepted by the General Assembly would be sent to the 
office of the Comptroller General, and there remain permanently ex- 
posed to the scrutiny of the public, and payment would be made only 
on the warrant of the Comptroller General. 

In the case of claims passed by the General Assembly, the original 



1 66 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

accounts of such claims, and the certificates for their payment issued 
by the ofificers of the General Assembly, should likewise be filed with 
the Comptroller General, as vouchers to that officer for the issue of 
warrants. In this connection I may state that I have personal knowl- 
edge that in one instance, at least, a certificate for the payment of a 
claim passed by the General Assembly was issued at the last session, 
and both this certificate and the original claim were left in the hands 
of the person who presented the claim. Both these demands, the 
claim certificate and the original claim, were payable by the Treasurer 
without further examination, and thus this demand might have been 
twice paid without fault on the ]mrt of the Treasurer. I trust these 
considerations will render certain the adoption of such legislation upon 
this subject as will afford the proper securities. 

The public printing has been reduced during the past year from the 
annual average of $181,209.95 durmg the three preceding years, to the 
sum of $50,000 per year. This branch of public work should hereafter 
be thrown open to the lowest bidder, under such regulations as will 
secure fair and genuine competition and the faithful performance of 
the proposals thus received. 

In prosecuting the Avork of retrenchment, the number of salaried 
officers and the amounts of the salaries paid, will require strict exam- 
ination. At the last session of the General Assembly a bill upon this 
subject was matured and passed by the House of Representatives, 
which Avas a long step in the right direction. This bill is now upon the 
calendar of the Senate, and 1 most heartily urge its immediate enact- 
ment into law. 

Having in all practical ways brought the expenses of the govern- 
ment to the lowest limit compatible with the due support of our public 
interests, the next duty will be the levy of taxes sufficient, with other 
sources of revenue, to defray these expenses. This is not merely the 
plain dictate of common prudence and good administration, but it is 
a specific constitutional obligation. Section 3 of article IX of the Con- 
stitution is as follows : " The General Assembly shall provide an an- 
nual tax sufficient to defray the estimated expenses of the State for 
each year, and whenever it shall happen that such ordinary expenses 
of the State for any year shall exceed the income of the State for such 
year, the General Assembly shall provide for levying a tax for the 
ensuing year, sufificient, with other sources of income, to pay the defi- 
ciency of the preceding year, together with the estimated expenses of 
the ensuing year."' 

The first constitutional duty imposed and made imperative by this 
section is the levy of a tax sufficient to defray the estimated expenses 
of the State for the present year. The fact that the General Assembly 
cannot be compelled by any higher power to i)erform this duty, does 
not diminish the obligation to perform it. The practical evils of a 
neglect of this duty are oppressing nearly every branch of the public 
service at the present time. .\ vast floating debt and the loss of public 
credit, to say nothing of the hardship imposed upon thousands of in- 



A DM INI S TKA TION. 1 6/ 

dividuals, are among these evils. I trust, therefore, that nothing will 
hereafter induce the General Assembly to neglect to provide by tax for 
all the estimated expenses of the current year. 

The second constitutional duty imposed and made imperative by 
this section is the levy of a tax sufficient to pay the deficiency of the 
preceding year. This duty has likewise been neglected in former 
years. The total amount of deficiencies for the last fiscal year, includ- 
ing the loss in the South Carolina Bank and Trust Company, is 
$308,872.15, of which it should be said that $127,724.03 are the 
result of the failure of the South Carolina Bank and Trust Company. 
Of this amount the sum of $249,372.29 (as I have pointed out in 
detail in my Message of this date, retui-ning the tax Act of the last 
session), should be provided for in the levy for the present year. If 
the General Assembly shall perform its duty in this respect we shall 
during the present year witness the prompt and regular payment of sal- 
aries and appropriations for public institutions, and a consequent 
restoration of our State credit, together with the increased efficiency of 
every branch of the public service. The ultimate burden of taxation 
will not thereby be increased, while in the absence of extraordinary 
causes the entire item of deficiencies will be eliminated from the next 
annual tax levy. Such results will follow the simple discharge of our 
constitutional obligations, and I do not permit myself to believe that 
the General Assembly will fail to secure them. 

The most untoward event affecting our public interests during the 
past year has been the failure of the South Carolina Bank and Trust 
Company. At the time of its failure this Bank had $205,753.79 of 
money belonging to the State, of which amount $106,829.30 belonged 
to the funds for the payment of interest on the public debt, the remain- 
der, $98,924.49, belonging to the general appropriations for the last 
fiscal year. This failure took place on the 2d day of July last, and im- 
mediately thereafter, on the motion of the Attorney General, the Court 
of Common Pleas of Richland County appointed Hon. T. C. Dunn the 
receiver of the assets and property of the bank. What amount the 
State will finally receive in the distribution of the property of the bank, 
on account of its deposit, it is now impossible to determine even ap- 
proximately. The nominal amount of the liabilities of the bank is 
reported by the receiver to be $368,455.06, and the nominal assets 
$314,960.24. Of the assets of the bank, it may, in general, be said 
that they are to the last degree unsatisfactory and uncertain in value, 
as well as unavailable for present conversion into money. The evil 
effects of this failure have not been limited to the State, but the funds 
of several of the counties have also been lost. 

The management of this bank, the causes of its failure, and the 
responsibility therefor, I do not deem it my province to discuss at this 
time. The property and assets of the bank being in the hands of the 
court, all legal questions involved in the failure must be determined by 
the court. The circumstances attending the deposit of the State funds 
in this bank, as well as the motives of the several members of the 



1 68 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Board having the selection of the banks of deposit for State funds, have 
already been made known to the public' If the General Assembly 
shall desire further information respecting these matters, I shall be 
ready to furnish all information within my power ; or if it shall here- 
after seem incumbent on me to discuss these matters further, I shall 
make a special communication to the General Assembly. 

There is one subject conspicuously presented by this failure which 
I desire to bring to the immediate attention of the General Assembly : 
the question of the safest method of keeping our State deposits in the 
future. The law at present requires the Governor, the Treasurer, and the 
Comptroller General, acting together as a Board, to select the banks of 
deposit, having reference to the rate of interest which may be obtained 
upon the deposits and the security of the banks. It is obvious that the 
rate of interest paid on the State deposits is of little importance, com- 
pared with the security of the banks. With reference to the security 
of the banks, the Board of Deposit can do little more than to select 
such banks as stand well with the community generally and are trusted 
by private persons in the care of their private funds. This does not 
seem, in the light of recent events in this State, to afford sufficient pro- 
tection to the public funds. I have been unable to arrive at a satisfac- 
tory conclusion on this subject, and I must therefore refer it, without 
specific recommendation, to the wisdom of the General Assembly. It 
is a subject demanding immediate consideration, and if I were to make 
any suggestion, it would be that the subject be referred by your honor- 
able bodies for consideration and report to a joint special committee, 
selected with special reference to their financial and business experi- 
ence and capacity. 

Since November ist, 1874, $2,624,706.80 of the bonds and stock 
authorized by the Consolidation Act of December 22, 1873, have been 
issued. The entire amount of this class of our public securities issued 
up to that date is $3,618,290.82. About seven tenths of all the bonds 
and stock made exchangeable under that Act have thus been exchanged. 
The great disaster of the failure of the South Carolina Bank and Trust 
Company has been most severely felt in its influence on. this great pub- 
lic interest. It gave a shock to the growing confidence in the good 
faith of the State towards the public creditors, depressing the market 
value of the public segurities, and checking for a time the process of 
exchange. 

Since the ist July, 1875, about $500,000 of consolidation bonds and 
stock have been issued, the coupons of which, from July i, 1874, re- 
main unpaid. I recommend that a tax be included in the annual levy 
now to be made for the deficiencies of the last fiscal year, to pay this 
amount of outstanding interest, amounting to $30,000. 

The vital necessity of faithfully adhering to the contracts and obli- 
gations incurred by the present settlement of our public debt, I trust, 
needs no enforcement. It is as essential to the general prosperity of 

' By newspaper reports. See the Governor's statement, p. 148. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 69 

the State as to the interests of her creditors. If good faith and un- 
flinching honesty shall be observed, the year on which we have entered 
will witness the complete exchange of the old debt of the State, a 
result which will be second to no other result of our efforts to restore 
the honor and welfare of the State. I recommend that such action be 
taken as will fully meet the just demands of the public creditors under 
the Consolidation Act, and remove all doubts respecting our intention 
to make that Act the point of departure for a new career of faith and 
honor, which shall help to hide the errors and failings of our recent 
history. 

What is conveniently termed the floating indebtedness of the State 
presents a subject of great difficulty, but one which presses for decision. 
Under this head is included all the various evidences of indebtedness . 
and claims against the State which have arisen between 1868 and 
1874. Two reasons induce me to favor a settlement of this part of our 
debt, if a reasonable scheme can be adopted : first, justice to the many 
holders of these claims who have given the State valuable consideration 
therefor, in money, merchandise, or labor and services ; second, the 
removal from our current legislation of a disturbing and most unfavor- 
able influence. I shall not dwell upon this subject at the present time 
further than to say that any scheme to command my support must em- 
body these two provisions : First, the proper auditing of all forms of 
this indebtedness ; and, second, the gradual payment of the debts by 
such annual tax as will not be too burdensome to the people. 

I am glad to express the belief that the financial condition of many 
of the counties of the State has been greatly improved during the past 
year. In general, I think the former habits of extravagance and fraud 
in county affairs have been corrected. A majority of the counties are, 
however, burdened, like the State, by floating indebtedness. The requi- 
sites of a proper scheme for the settlement of this indebtedness are the 
same, in my opinion, as those already stated ; first, the proper auditing 
of all claims, and, second, their gradual payment by taxation. Wher- 
ever these claims can be subjected to judicial scrutiny, such a course will 
furnish the best attainable mode of auditing the claims. 

To guard against future evils of a similiar character, I recommend 
that County Commissioners be required to make specific levies for all the 
leading objects of expenditure, as is now done by the State. This will, 
to a great degree, prevent the diversion of funds from the objects which 
are most essential to the maintenance of county government, such as the 
pay of jurors, the dieting of prisoners, the ordinary expenses of the 
courts, and the support of the poor. County taxes are now extremely 
burdensome, and every effort should be made to reduce them. 

It affords me very great satisfaction to state that I have received the 
Annual Reports of all the State officers and governing Boards and officers 
of all our public institutions in time to avail myself of their contents in 
the preparation of this Message. These reports are now in the hands of 
the public printer, and will, therefore, be laid before you in an available 



I/O GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

form in a very few days. I note this fact with pride, as an evidence 
that official responsibility is properly appreciated, and that a desire is 
felt by our public officers to facilitate the prompt discharge of its duties 
by the General Assembly. I am confident this fidelity will be fully 
appreciated by the General Assembly. 

The Annual Report of the Comptroller General furnishes the grand 
source of information respecting nearly all the leading interests of the 
State. The present Report will be found a worthy example of fulness 
and convenience of tabular statements, as well as a valuable discussion 
of some special topics. 

I have already, in presenting my views upon matters connected with 
the collection and expenditure of public funds, availed myself largely of 
this Report. 

I concur in all the specific recommendations of the Comptroller Gen- 
eral having reference to the good conduct of his office and the protection 
of public interests. His views of the mode of securing proper protec- 
tion to policy holders in the various insurance companies doing busi- 
ness in this State seem to me correct, and the means suggested appear 
necessary and judicious. 

The members of the General Assembly will find the entire Report a 
most valuable help, especially in dealing with the great subject of taxa- 
tion. 

In this Message, and in my Message of this date upon the Supply Act, 
I shall have presented so much of the information contained in the 
reports of the Comptroller General and the Treasurer, as will, I think, 
enable the General Assembly to proceed without delay to the practical 
work of the session. 

The Annual Report of the State Treasurer contains the usual tabular 
statements showing the transactions of that office. 

The Treasurer treats also of various subjects affecting the financial 
welfare of the State. 

I call attention, especially, to his remarks upon Ijie subject of 
specific levies. 

The condition of the public debt is also presented in this Report 
in detail, and I trust this part of the Report will be carefully examined 
and considered. 

The remarks of the Treasurer respecting the failure of the South 
Carolina Bank and Trust Company are worthy of careful examination, 
as presenting the actual relations of the State to that bank at the time of 
the failure, as well as his views of the nature of some of its leading 
transactions and the legal responsibility therefor. 

The labor of this office is now greatly increased by the work of 
exchanging the public debt, and I discharge a duty merely when I bear 
official testimony to the ability and fidelity which the presen-t State 
Treasurer brings to the discharge of all his duties. 

The monthly statement of the transactions of this office mark a 
long advance in good administration. This practice will certainly 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 1 7 1 

demonstrate the truth that publicity is a protection to an honest offi- 
cer and against a dishonest officer. 

The Annual Report of the Secretary of State is herewith transmitted. 
This Report embraces a statement of the transactions connected with 
the ordinary duties of this office, and also with the department of the 
Land Commission, and the State census reports of 1875. 

I call attention, with approval, to the remarks of the Secretary of 
State respecting the recent State census. It is a matter of deep regret 
that any results of this census should appear untrustworthy. But the 
total population of the State, according to the census, is put at 923,447, 
a reported increase over the result of the United States census of 1870 
of 216,841, a result which will not bear examination. The Secretary 
of State having discussed this subject with so much candor and justice, 
I forbear to do more than to call attention to his remarks. 

The industrial statistics furnished by this census may, so far as I 
am informed, be regarded as reasonably accurate, and these statistics 
will be found to be most interesting and valuable. I note a few of 
these statistics here, premising that, in giving the crops produced by 
the colored population, only the crops owned and produced by the col- 
ored population, independently and of their own right, are included ; 
all crops or parts of crops produced by colored laborers working for a 
share of the orops being credited entirely to the employer. Whole 
number of acres under cultivation, 2,070,441 ; by colored, 459,895 ; by 
white, 1,630,546. Whole number of acres of cotton planted, 818,197 ; 
by colored, 196,784; by white, 621,413. Whole number of pounds of 
long staple cotton produced, 1,821,989; by colored, 1,177,732; by 
white, 664,257. Whole number of pounds of short staple cotton pro- 
duced, 139-939.459; by colored, 27,153,871; by white, 112,885,587. 
Whole number of acres of rice planted, 42,013 ; by colored, 10,459 '■> by 
white, 30,554. Whole number of bushels of rice produced, 897,146; 
by colored, 176,194; by white, 720,952. Whole number of horses, 
49,069 ; by colored, 10,431 ; by white, 38,638. Whole number of mules, 
50,013 ; by colored, 10,244 ; by white, 39,769. Whole number of bar- 
rels of rosin produced, 343,146 ; by colored, 27,357 ; by white, 315,789. 
Whole number of gallons of turpentine produced, 3,421,262 ; by col- 
ored, 211,190; by white, 3,210,072. 

The Annual Report of the Attorney General will be found a complete 
history of the causes in court in which the State has been a party, or 
had a legal interest. It will demand the attention of the General As- 
sembly on many points. It is to be hoped that the greater part of the 
special litigation which has been imposed on the Attorney General 
during the past three years is now finally disposed of, and that the fu- 
ture will show a large reduction in the labors of the Attorney General 
and his assistants, in defending the State against special schemes for 
adding largely to our public burdens. All the duties of this office ap- 
pear to have been performed with vigor and ability and with the best 
possible results to the State. 



1/2 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The Attorney General treats at length of the present condition of 
the suits which involve the question of the receivability for taxes of 
the bills of the Bank of the State. It will be remembered that I called 
the special attention of the General Assembly to this subject in my 
Inaugural Address. The Report of the Attorney General will present 
to your notice the changes in the relations of the State to these bills 
during the last year. I content myself with remarking that this is a 
subject which forces itself on the attention of the General Assembly, 
and will require a speedy solution. What that solution shall be I leave 
to the General Assembly to determine. 

The Seventh Annual Report of the Superintendent of Education will 
be found to convey important information concerning the common 
schools of the State. 

The school population of the State, consisting of youths from 6 to 
i6 years of age, amounts to 239,264, of which, 85,566 are white, and 
153,698 colored, showing an increase since 1873 of 9,162. 

The present number of free common schools is 2,580, an increase 
since the last year of 227. The present actual school attendance of 
both sexes is 110,416, of which, 47,001 are white, and 63,415 colored, 
an increase since the last year of 5,678, 

The whole number of teachers employed is 2,855, ^^ whom 1,876 
are white, and 979 colored, an increase since the la§t year of 2 28. 
The average monthly wages of teachers is $31.64 for males, and 
$29.21 for females. The average length of the last school year was 
four and a half months. 

The number of common-school houses in the State is 2,347, an in- 
crease during the last year of 119. 

The Superintendent of Education estimates the amount of money 
necessary to keep our free common schools open for a period of six 
months each year at $600,000, or $100,000 per month. 

The foregoing statistics show a perceptible advance in the facilities 
for education afforded by our common schools during the last year. 
They also show that great advances must still be made before our 
common schools will reach our entire school population. The length 
of the actual school year, now four and a half months, should be 
increased to at least six months. Whether this can be done during 
the present year is doubtful, but it should be our aim to secure such a 
result at the earliest practicable time. 

Three causes still retard the efficiency of our common schools : first 
the want of educational experience and capacity in many of our County 
School Commissioners ; second, the want of proper qualifications in 
many of our teachers ; third, the Avant of sufficient' interest in the 
schools on the part of our people generally. Remove these three hin- 
drances and our advances would be rapid and certain. How this can 
be done I have pointed out in a former message, and I again urge that 
your earnest attention be directed to these subjects. The work of the 
State Superintendent, it gives me pleasure to say, has been marked by 
intelligence and industry which are worthy of all commendation. His 
report is full of instructive and vital information. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 73 

I renew the recommendation made in my Inaugural Address re- 
specting the establishment of county high schools, by giving author- 
ity to the proper school officers to raise one or more of the most 
efficient and advanced common schools in each county, when deemed 
practicable, to the grade of high schools, with provision for an ad- 
vanced course of study. No additional expense will thereby be in- 
curred, but opportunity will be afforded to intelligent and ambitious 
youths to go beyond the ordinary common-school studies without leav- 
ing their counties — an opportunity now wanting and greatly needed. 
Such authority vested in the school officers need not be exercised 
unless such schools are required and the conditions are favorable for 
their establishment. 

I'he condition of the State University has been improved during the 
past year. Owing to circumstances which are well tmderstood, the 
University, under its present auspices, has been obliged virtually to 
begin a new life. An absolutely high standard of scholarship and 
discipline cannot be expected immediately. I do not hesitate, how- 
ever, to say that I think the University is now doing a good work and 
deserves the support of the State. I regret that its benefits cannot 
be greater and more widely diffused, but I can never bring myself to 
regard with disfavor or neglect even the smallest beginnings of the 
educational interests of the State. During the past year the courses of 
study have been re-arranged and extended, and now comprise two 
quadrennial courses : an academical course, corresponding to the 
usual courses pursued in American colleges by candidates for the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts, and a course in which French and German 
are substituted for Greek and Latin. A special course is also provided 
for students who have not the time or means to spend four years in 
the University. 

The whole number of students for the year ending October 31, 
1875, was as follows : In the Preparatory Department, 102 ; in Law, 
20 ; in Medicine, 2 ; in the Academical Schools, 107. Total, 233. 

State scholarships have been awarded to 91 students, 15 of 
whom have since vacated their scholarships. The present Freshman 
Class contains 61 students, 22 of whom are pursuing the full classical 
course. 

I think some changes in the present conduct of the University may 
be effected which will diminish its expenses and increase its effi- 
ciency. I therefore recommend that the attention of the General 
Assembly be directed to this subject, and I will lay before your proper 
committees my views in detail. 

I take sincere satisfaction in stating that I regard the State Normal 
School, under the charge of Mr. M. A. Warren, as at present, perhaps 
the most entirely successful feature of our whole school work. I trust 
the members of the General Assembly will personally examine this 
school, and there learn how much a well-directed enthusiasm can do to 
solve successfully our hardest problems. In this school we have a 



1/4 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

source from which we shall obtain competent teachers for our common 
schools in the future. The school is divided into two departments, one 
called the " normal " and the other the " training." The former de- 
partment, during the past year, had lo students, the latter 25, making 
the whole number in attendance 35. In addition to this number, 21 
have already left the school and are engaged in teaching — making the 
whole number of students since the organization of the school, 56. 
The school is in great need of additional facilities, all of which are 
fully set forth in the Annual Report of the Regents of the school. If 
the ordinary appropriation for this school can be obtained and made 
actually available during the present year, these wants can nearly all 
be met. The benefits of the school should be more widely enjoyed. 
All our counties are entitled to representation in the school, but at 
present only eleven counties are actually represented. 

The State Agricultural College and Mechanical Institute, I regret 
to say, is in a condition far from flourishing. This is due, in great 
part, to the want of funds, which consist, under the law, of the interest 
on the bonds arising from the sale of the congressional gift of land 
scrip. If provision can be made to restore these funds I do not doubt 
that this institution can be made useful. I call attention to the subject 
without offering any recommendation. 

In my Message at the last session I called attention to the suspen- 
sion of the school for our deaf, dumb, and blind, at Spartanburg, and 
I characterized its suspension as " an act of educational retrogression." 
I cannot do less than again urge upon the General Assembly the duty 
of re-opening this institution. Humanity demands it. Our present 
reputation demands it. The buildings stand idle and empty, and our 
unfortunate children of this class are growing up in mental as well as 
physical darkness, for want of a small pittance of our public funds. 
This institution might literally be supported by the crumbs that fall 
from the tables of some of our other objects of expenditure. I trust 
the present year will not pass without seeing this school re-opened 
and adequately supported. 

At the last session of the General Assembly, the Governor, Secre- 
tary of State, and Superintendent of Education, were directed to open 
negotiations for an exchange of the property of the State at Spartan- 
burg for property suitable for the same purpose in Columbia. I regret 
to state that that Commission have been unable to effect an exchange. 
A Report of the Commission Avill be duly presented to the General 
Assembly. Meantime the buildings at Spartanburg can be used for 
the school until a removal can be effected to a more convenient loca- 
tion, if such a change is finally deemed advisable. 

I transmit herewith the Annual Report of the Adjutant and Inspec- 
tor General, with its accompanying papers. The condition of our 
military system is now deplorable. The original organization of the 
militia was exceedingly imperfect, and its present condition, for the 
most part, is not worthy the name of an organization. It is a subject 



A DiMINIS TEA TION. I / 5 

Avorthy of candid and considerate treatment by the General Assembly. 
I call attention to the recommendations of the Adjutant and Inspector 
General, and I mention with approval his suggestion that the organiza- 
tion of the State militia be limited to large cities and towns of the State 
where arsenals and other indispensable facilities for the proper disci- 
pline and drill of the militia can be secured. In its present condition 
our militia is not a source of strength or an object of just pride. I 
will heartily aid in any efforts to elevate this department to a proper 
standard of efficiency and usefulness. 

The Report of the State Librarian and Keeper of the State House, 
conveying much valuable information, is herewith transmitted. In 
this connection I desire to acknowledge the very faithful and valuable 
services rendered to the State by this officer in the care of the supplies 
of coal and wood purchased for the use of the State officers and Gen- 
eral Assembly during the present year. The State has in this instance 
received full weight and measure, and the favorable result will be 
apparent during the year. 

The Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Lunatic Asylum, 
covering the Annual Report of the Examining Committee of that Board 
and the Fifty-third Annual Report of the Superintendent and Physician 
of the Asylum, fully presents the condition of that most important in- 
stitution. I take pleasure in saying that, in my judgment, the officers 
of that institution have accomplished all that could be accomplished 
in its management, with the many disadvantages which continue to 
embarrass all our public institutions. Foremost among these disad- 
vantages is the invariable deficiency in the funds available to meet the 
appropriation for its support, and consequent necessity of supporting 
the institution for a large part of the year upon credit. 

A further direct consequence of this deficiency of funds has been 
the accumulation, since 1868, of an amount of past due indebtedness 
which now renders it nearly impossible to obtain any credit for the in- 
stitution. The only remedy for these evils is the raising of funds 
sufficient to meet in full the appropriation, and the rigid limiting, as is 
now done, of all expenditures to the amount of the appropriation. Let 
the Asylum for one year be able to obtain its appropriation in full 
when due, and these evils will at once be remedied. 

This institution affords a striking example of the evil effects of our 
practice of allowing deficiencies to arise year after year, and teaches a 
lesson which should not require further enforcement. I deem it simple 
justice to the presept Superintendent to say that he has shown a rare 
degree of fidelity, ability, and patience in meeting these difficulties 
which have thrown upon him an amount of labor and anxiety of which 
the public have little conception. I implore the General Assembly, for 
the sake of that most afflicted class of our community thus committed 
to their care, to remove these burdens by providing an amount of funds 
which will enable the officers of the institution to conduct its affairs in 
a proper manner. Nothing is needed to effect this except a due regard 



176 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

to the most common business principles. Of course this institution 
has suffered, in common with all other public interests, from the failure 
of the South Carolina Bank and "Trust Company, but, aside from this, 
the entire amount levied for the support of our penal and charitable 
institutions was greatly inadequate to meet the appropriations made. 

With the funds at their command the officers of the Asylum have 
done more than could have been expected, and the results indicate how 
much more might be accomplished under favorable conditions-. 

A summary statement of the financial results of the year is as fol- 
lows : Expenses for fiscal year 1874-75, $61,657.24 ; outstanding lia- 
bilities prior to last fiscal year, $57,641.85. Total, $119,299.09. Of 
this total $70,285 has been paid during the last fiscal year. Balance 
remaining unpaid, $49,014.09. Deduct from this sum $14,500 of 
Comptroller's warrants for the past year, now unpaid, and the entire 
indebtedness of the Asylum at the end of the last fiscal year was $34,- 
514.09, a reduction of the old debt by $23,127.76 in one year. I know 
no more gratifying result in any department of the public service. 
This result has been reached only by enforcing rigid economy to 
a degree which impairs the usefulness of the institution, but it 
furnishes an example which should command the thanks of all our 
people. 

For the future the Asylum greatly needs a more liberal support ; 
the female department is now overcrowded ; improvements and repairs 
of various kinds are needed ; the roof of the male department, espe- 
cially, is in need of immediate repairs ; and the new Asylum building 
should be greatly enlarged. 

With proper retrenchment in other expenses of the State, I think 
all those wants could be met without increased taxation, but I am 
opposed, under all circumstances, to any appropriations in excess of 
the amount raised by taxation. The greatest degree of liberality com- 
patible with the pecuniary condition of the State should be shown 
towards the institution. 

I call attention to the practical recommendations made in the 
Report of the Board of Regents and the Superintendent, and especially 
concur in the recommendation of the Superintendent that the law 
should provide against the admission of patients afflicted with forms of 
chronic insanity (except violent cases), to the exclusion of acute and 
recent cases which present hope of successful treatment. The Asylum 
is now crowded with cases of hopeless chronic insanity. The entire 
report is extremely interesting, and should be read and considered by 
every legislator. 

I concur fully in the views of the Board of Regents and the Super- 
intendent respecting the past indebtedness of the Asylum. It is per- 
haps the most meritorious portion of our floating indebtedness, and 
should certainly be provided for without further delay. 

The Annual Report of the Directors of the State Penitentiary, cover- 
ing the Reports of the former Superintendent and the present Superin- 
tendent and other officers of that institution, are herewith transmitted. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 7 / 

From these Reports it appears that on the 31st day of October, 1874^ 
the institution contained 168 convicts ; that during the year ending 
October 31, 1875, additional convicts to the number of 312 were 
received ; that during the same period 9 escaped convicts were recap- 
tured, making a total of 489 inmates during the year. Of this number 
it further appears that 46 were pardoned by my predecessor between 
the ist November and the ist December, 1874, and that 16 have been 
pardoned by me between the ist December, 1874, and the 31st Octo- 
ber, 1875 , that 44 have been discharged by expiration of sentence, 4 
by commutation of sentence, and 21 under the regulation allowing 
a reduction of one twelfth of the time of sentence as a reward for good 
behavior ; that 24 have escaped, 4 have died, i was shot in altercation 
with a guard, and i was drowned ; 6 are designated as "trustees," who 
should, prior to May i, 1875, have been dropped from the records as 
"escaped"; making a total of 167 discharged during the year, and 
leaving 322 in confinement on the 31st of October. 1875, ^^ which 
number 318 are males and 4 females. 

I am gratified to state that great improvements have been made 
during the past year in the management of the Penitentiary, especially 
in the cost of maintaining the prisoners. On the 14th of April, 1875, 
Col. T. W. Parmele was appointed Superintendent, and on the ist of 
May, 1875, he entered upon his duties. A proper system of accounta- 
bility for all supplies furnished the Penitentiary was at once adopted 
and enforced. A set of books was opened in which the accounts have 
been entered, and written requisitions for supplies and vouchers for all 
expenditures are now on file for the verification of all accounts. All 
supplies received have been invariably weighed, measured, or otherwise 
taken account of. The results of these obvious measures of good 
management have been unmistakable. While the number of convicts 
has been greatly increased, the entire cost of maintaining this increased 
number has been greatly reduced. Thus for the month of April, 1875, 
with an average number of convicts of 243, the pay-roll of guards and 
employees was $1,426.78 ; while for the month of September, 1875, 
with an average number of convicts of 300, the pay-roll of guards and 
employees was $1,225.35. For the month of April, 1875, the cost of 
groceries and beef was $2,028.57 ; while for the month of September, 
1875, the cost of the same items was $1,027.15 ; the per capita cost for 
the former month being $8.34, and for the latter month $3.42. 

Notwithstanding many disadvantages, the financial condition of the 
Penitentiary, at the close of the year, was eminently satisfactory. The 
failure of the South Carolina Bank and Trust Company caused a loss of 
$493.92 in cash. Owing to the deficiency of the receipts under the 
levy of taxes made for penal and charitable institutions for the last 
year, together with the failure of the South Carolina Bank and Trust 
Company, the sum of $4,500 in unpaid warrants remain now on hand. 
These warrants, together with the income derived from the sale of 
bricks made by convict labor, will, however, fully meet all the out- 
standing indebtedness of the last fiscal year. 



178 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

In the interior economy and discioline of the institution many wise 
changes have been made. The more youthful are now separated from 
the other inmates, and constitute what is known as the Reformatory 
Department," in which they are regularly instructed each day by com- 
petent teachers, and their time occupied in such ways as to remove 
them from the demoralization of constant association with other and 
more confirmed criminals. In the employment of the convicts in labor 
all has been done that was possible under existing laws. An attempt 
was made to raise corn on lands near this city, but owing to the late 
period at which the work was begun, and the severe drought of the 
midsummer, comparatively little was realized from this labor, though 
enough was done to demonstrate that under ordinary favorable condi- 
tions^'such work can thus be made available in greatly reducmg the 
cost of maintaining the institution. Besides this, between $3,000 and 
^4.000 worth of bricks has been made 

But the most advantageous use of this labor cannot be made while 
the present restrictions of law are in force, and I most earnest y recom- 
mend that authority be given, by a change of the present law, to the Di- 
rectors to employ this labor in such ways as they may deem most advan- 
tageous, provided it does not come into competition with other labor 
To a certain degree every man competes in labor with other men but 
it will be easy to find employment for the able-bodied inmates of the 
Penitentiary, which will not sensibly affect the price or amount of the 
employment of other laborers. The cost of maintaining our convicts, 
now a heavy burden, will thereby be greatly reduced, and the welfare, 
physical and moral, of the convicts will be promoted. 

I do not recommend an increased appropriation for the support ot 
the Penitentiarv for the present year. On the contrary, if authority is 
given to the Directors to employ the labor of the convicts, as above 
recommended, I shall recommend that the appropriation be reduced to 
^,0 000 If such authority is not given, 1 shall recommend that the 
appropriation be continued at $40,000, and that $3,000 of this sum if 
so much be necessary, be used in constructing a new roof for the 
south wing of the Penitentiary, and for putting a roof on the north 
wing, and for other permanent repairs. • . r^ . 

The past indebtedness of the Penitentiary contracted prior to Octo- 
ber 31, 1874, is, nominally, $87,918.39. 

In connection with this subject I call attention to the Report of Par- 
dons, Reprieves, and Commutations granted by me since December i, 
1874 which I herewith transmit, agreeably to the requirements of Sec- 
tion 11 of Article III of the Constitution. In discharging this most 
onerous and painful duty of my office I have endeavored faithful y to 
redeem the promise made in my Inaugural Address. The whole num- 
ber of pardons and commutations granted by me up to November i, 
187c: was thirty-six. With scarcely an exception, all applications for 
pardon or commutation have been referred by me to the Judge who 
tried the case, and, as will be seen in nearly or quite every case my 
action has had the sanction of the Courts and best citizens of the State. 



A DM INI S TEA TION. j yg 

At this point I also call attention to the matter of rewards for the 
capture of fugitive criminals. The custom of offering rewards through 
the Governor m such cases has been strongly established in this Stafe 
With one exception, which seemed to me to be justified by the circum- 
stances, I have offered no such rewards, for the reason that I had no 
fund at my command for paying them. If the General Assembly 
desire to continue the custom, it will be necessary to set apart a fund 
for that purpose. 

The Annual Report of the Trustees of the State Orphan Asylum is 
with Reports of its officers annexed, herewith transmitted, and will be 
found to be elaborate and interesting. 

During the past year this institution has been removed from Charles- 
ton to Columbia. The Asylum is now apparently beginning a new 
career, nearly all of its former officers and teachers, as well as the 
larger part of its inmates, having left during the past summer The pres- 
ent number of inmates is eighty-four, of whom thirty-five are boys and 
forty-nine are girls. The financial condition of the institution is fully 
presented in the Report of the Trustees. 

The Annual Report of the Health Officer at Charleston, which is 
herewith transmitted, presents the operations of the quarantine depart- 
ments at Charleston, Hilton Head, and Georgetown. The past year 
has demonstrated in a signal manner the benefits of a vigilant and skil- 
ful management of these departments. Our coast communities have 
not only been protected from epidemics of all kinds, but from the 
special scourge of yellow fever. As early as last March the yellow 
fever made its appearance at Havana and Key West. Our quarantine 
officers were m immediate communication with these points, and a sys- 
tem of rigid examination of all vessels from those ports was enforced 
and never relaxed, under any pressure, during the entire summer. The 
result has been an entire exemption from that disease along our whole 
seaboard. The means adopted and the results thus secured reflect 
the greatest credit upon the Health Officer at Charleston, Robert 
Lebby, M. D., as well as S. B. Thompson, M. D., the Health Officer 
for Beaufort and Hilton Head. It is pleasant and proper to acknowl- 
edge the assistance rendered our Health Officers by the various United 
States officers on duty upon our coast, particularly Captain C O Bou- 
telle, of the United States Coast Survey. 

The Report of the Health Officer at Charleston embraces recom- 
mendations for certain changes in the quarantine law of the State 
which seem to me judicious, and which, I trust, will be adopted Other 
recommendations contained in this Report, intended to increase the 
efficiency and completeness of our system of quarantine are approved 
by me and respectfully urged upon the consideration of the General 
Assembly. 

I again urge that the provisions of Sections i, 21, 22, 23, and 24 of 
Article IV of the Constitution relating to the election of " a compe- 
tent number of Justices of the Peace and Constables in each county, by 



I So GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the qualified electors thereof, in such manner as the General Assembly 
may direct," be put into practice. The adoption of new consitutional 
provisions 'will give little confidence in our good intentions while im- 
portant existing constitutional requirements are wholly and persistently 
disregarded. Though the General Assembly have the power, they have 
not the right to deprive the electors of the counties of the constitu- 
tional privilege of electing Justices of the Peace and Constables. If 
one constitutional requirement can be disregarded, all can be, so far, 
at least, as they depend on the positive action of the General Assem- 
bly. The results of the system of Trial Justices appointed by the 
Governor certainly cannot be considered so favorable as to justify the 
annulling of an important part of the Constitution. Let the Consti- 
tution be enforced in all its provisions, and a public sentiment will 
then be cultivated which will make the Constitution the shield for all 
classes of our people from the wrongs or excesses which the interests 
of any political party may prompt. 

The Constitution, in Section 3, of Article VIII, declares that " it 
shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide, from time to 
time, for the registration of all electors." 

What has just been said of the election of Justices of the Peace and 
Constables applies equally to this provision of the Constitution, If it 
were a question of constitutional construction, there might be room for 
difference of opinion here. But it will not be questioned that the Con- 
stitution requires registration. It is equally plain that the phrase 
from " time to time " is intended to secure the constant observance of 
this safeguard of our elections. To my mind there is no place left for 
argument on this subject. In a political or party view I fear nothing 
more than the effect of a plain disregard of constitutional require- 
ments. In the revolutions of political fortune which are always inci- 
dent to a wide or universal suffrage, by a disregard of the Constitution 

" we but teach 
Instructions, which, being taught, return 
To plague the inventors." 

I am confident, from various indications, that the principle of 
minority representation is growing in favor among all the people of the 
State It offers in theory, certainly, and in practice, so far as yet 
tested, a mode of reaching that highest result of our representative 
system the true proportional influence of each class or party into which 
our voting population may be divided. The rule of the majority is 
not thereby destroyed, while the voice and influence of the minority is 
not wholly suppressed. In this State its advantages m our counties 
and municipalities would be peculiarly great. Our voting popula- 
tion is now in a great measure, divided upon lines which are not 
conducive to the best results in our public affairs. Mmority represen- 
tation will mitigate these evils without changing the basis of political 
power. 



AD MINIS TEA TION. 1 8 1 

Practically, though not in name, this principle has already been ap- 
plied in some of our counties and cities. Citizens of both parties or 
races have voluntarily agreed to share political power in approximate 
proportion to their numerical strength, respectively. The results of such 
a course have invariably been satisfactory, so far as I am informed, 
and I am sure that the example will be repeated more and more widely 
in the future. What is thus here and there secured by the voluntary 
concert of our citizens will be secured firmly and universally by the 
adoption into the law of the State of the principle of minority repre- 
sentation in all county and municipal elections. I cordially and 
earnestly urge this measure upon your consideration at the present 
session. 

I call attention to the recommendations made in my Inaugural 
Address respecting a revision of the laws defining the powers of the 
Board of State Canvassers. Different opinions respecting the powers 
of the Board prevail among the present members of this Board, and ex- 
pensive litigation is almost constantly in progress, growing out of this 
uncertainty. A few simple amendments of the present law will set at 
rest all doubts on this subject 

The State Agricultural and Mechanical Society, through a commit- 
tee of its members, has requested me to call your attention to the 
condition and wants of that Society, and to recommend an appropria- 
tion in its aid. The utility of societies of this character need not be 
argued. Our State is pre-eminently an agricultural State. Every 
practicable means should be employed to promote the interests of the 
planter and farmer, as well as the agricultural laborer, of whatever 
grade. The State Agricultural Society can be made a principal agent 
in this work. At the present time the condition of this Society seems 
to be one of extreme depression in some respects. I conclude, also, 
from many indications, that an opinion widely prevails that the Society 
has not in all respects been wisely managed hitherto. If the State 
shall contribute directly to the support of this Society I think it should, 
if practicable, make sure that the Society shall so manage its affairs as 
to enlist the support and confidence of all who regard the welfare of 
the State. How this can best be done I am not prepared to say. I 
do, however, cordially recommend that an appropriation be made in aid 
of this Society for the present year, to be drawn and expended under 
such restrictions and regulations as may be deemed best adapted to 
promote the general agricultural interests of the whole State. With 
economy in other expenditures, such an appropriation need not in- 
crease the burden of our taxation. 

The very valuable property of the State on Arsenal Hill, in this 
city, formerly used as the Governor's residence, was placed in my 
charge at the beginning of the year, with the intimation that the rent 
derived from it might be regarded as applicable to my use. I have not 
felt willing to accept this offer, and inasmuch as the whole property 
was greatly in need of repairs, I have devoted the entire rent of the 



152 CO J 'ERNOK CIIA MBERLA IN ' S 

year to that use. The residence has been repaired, the fences rebuilt, 
and all the out-buildings put in good order. During the present year 
this work can be extended and the value of the property greatly en- 
hanced by judicious improvements. I transmit herewith a detailed 
statement of all money received from rent, and all disbursements made 
during the last year, the vouchers for all of which are on file for in- 
spection in the Executive office. 

The monument on the Capitol grounds, erected in memory of the 
Palmetto Regiment, which achieved renown in the war with Mexico, 
has been greatly injured by the tornado Avhich visited this city during 
the past year. The interest manifested by all classes of citizens in its 
restoration is a strong tribute to the patriotic and martial spirit of our 
people, and induces me to add an expression of my hope that the Gen- 
eral Assembly may find it practicable to cause the monument to be 
suitably repaired during the present year. 

At the present session elections of Judges of the Courts of Common 
Pleas and of the Supreme Court will take place. It cannot be deemed 
improper for me to present to the General Assembly the paramount 
importance of a wise discharge of this duty. The ancient fame of 
South Carolina in this respect should be kept steadily in mind. The 
standard of character and attainment once universally observed in this 
State should never be lowered. ' Legal learning, a judicial spirit, and a 
high, unblemished personal character, should mark every man who shall 
be elected to sit in the seats of Harper and Dunkin, of O'Neall and 
Wardlaw. If all these qualities are not attainable, let the one quality 
of personal integrity never be lost sight of. That community may well 
be pitied which is doomed to submit its great interests to the decision 
of one whose judgments will reflect his own passions or interests. 

On the 4th day of July, 1876, one hundred years will have passed 
since the Declaration of American Independence was made. In obedi- 
ence to the natural impulse, as well as the cultivated principle of 
national pride, in grateful recognition, also, of the blessings communi- 
cated to us and to the whole world from the event of July 4, 1776, the 
States of the American Union, the old and the new alike, will unite at 
Philadelphia, on the spot where Adams and Jefferson, the North and 
the South of a century ago, proclaimed the birth of the new nation, in 
celebrating the most auspicious event of modern times. In that cele- 
bration South Carolina will have a place. Shall she occupy it or not ? 
I firmly believe that the true voice of South Carolina answers from all 
her plains and mountains, by all her sons and daughters, " South Caro- 
lina s//a// fill her place in the centennial pageant." 

In this confidence I now invite again the attention of the General 
Assembly to this subject. At your last session, in response to a special 
Executive communication, a Joint Special Committee was appointed 
from your two Houses " to collect information of resources of the State 
for representation at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia." Per-, 
ceiving that the work was still progressing but slowly, if at all, and 



,! ADMINISTRATION. 1 83 

being appealed to by many within and without the State to omit no effort 
to forward this object, and at the urgent invitation of the Centennial 
authorities at Philadelphia, 1 appointed, on the 25th October last, a 
commission of nine eminent and honorable citizens of the State, each 
of them a fair representative of some great branch of the resources and 
industries of the State, " to have in charge the perfecting of such ar- 
rangements as they may adopt for promoting and securing the proper 
representation of South Carolina— her resources, history, and indus- 
tries — at the Centennial Celebration." 

As my selection of the members of this Commission has occasioned 
unfavorable criticism in some quarters, I take this occasion to state that 
I was governed solely in my selection by a desire to secure the active 
co-operation of those of our fellow-citizens from whom a very large 
majority of all articles furnished for the Centennial celebration must 
necessarily come. I did not permit other considerations to influence 
my action. It was a duty voluntarily assumed by me, not imposed by 
law, and I recognized no other obligation in its discharge than the ob- 
ligation to supply an indispensable element of success in this work, so far 
as it lay within my power. The functions and work of this Commission 
will in no respect supersede or embarrass any other agency previously 
or hereafter employed for the same purpose. The field of labor is open 
to all agencies, however appointed, and the only just rivalry should be 
a rivalry of zeal and efficiency in promoting the common end — an hon- 
orable representation of South Carolina at Philadelphia. The short- 
ness of the remaining time for this work suggests earnest and prompt 
action on the part of all, and I urge upon your honorable bodies all 
such efforts as may be calculated to fulfil our duty in this respect to the 
State and Nation. 

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I have now discharged, so far as I have been able, the duty imposed 
upon the Governor by the Constitution, to "give to the General Assem- 
bly, from time to time, information of the condition of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge 
necessary or expedient." The measures which I deem most essential 
to the present welfare of the State are : First, the prompt passage of a 
Supply Act which shall impose the lightest possible burden of taxation ; 
second, the enactment of a law which shall require all disbursements of 
pubHc funds, except the interest on the public debt, to be made upon 
warrants of the Comptroller General, issued upon vouchers approved 
by thit officer, and permanently recorded in his office ; third, the keep- 
ing of all appropriations within the limits of the funds actually provided 
for by taxation ; fourth, the immediate and large reduction of the scale 
of all public expenditures ; fifth, the equitable adjustment of the float- 
ing indebtedness of the State ypon a plan embracing the rigid scrutiny, 
by impartial agencies, of all claims, and the gradual payment by taxa- 
tion of the valid claims ; sixth, the inflexible observance of exact good- 
faith respecting the public debt. 

The work and spirit which I commended to you a year ago, I com- 



184 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

mend with increased earnestness to you now — the work of correcting 
abuses and restoring good administration — the spirit of integrity and 
fidelity towards those whose trusts we hold. Some gratifying results 
have been reached, but the future has heavier tasks than those already 
achieved. I might urge these things upon my political associates as 
essential to the life and success of their political party, for so they are ; 
but I choose to urge them upon the common, unassailable ground of 
the public welfare. He will be a blind i)olitician who is not also a 
patriot. The truly wise public man in this State to-day will labor and 
pray for the peace and honor of South Carolina ; for the increase of 
ofificial integrity ; for the confirmation to every citizen of all civil and 
political rights ; for the establishment of government which shall pro- 
tect all and oppress none. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. . 



The message communicating to the General Assembly his ob- 
jections to the supply bill, passed at the previous session, was in 
the terms following : 

Executive Department, 
C0LUMB.IA, S. C, November 23, 1875. 
To Hon. Robert B. Elliott, Speaker House of Representatives : 

Sir — I return herewith, without approval, to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in which it originated, an Act entitled " An Act to raise sup- 
plies for the fiscal year commencing November i, 1875." The fact that 
this Act, the most important of the year, did not reach me until the last 
hour of the last day of the session, deprived me of the opportunity of 
examining the Act with sufficient care to enable me to reach a conclu- 
sion as to my duty before the final adjournment of the General Assem- 
bly. When an examination had convinced me that official duty would 
not permit me to approve the Act, the unavoidable result was to post- 
pone further action until the reassembling of the General Assembly 
at its next regular session. I appreciate fully the disadvantages arising 
from this state of facts, and I should be sorry to feel that I am respon- 
sible for them. 

To the reasons which originally led me to withhold my approval 
from this Act have been added others, resulting from the failure of the 
South Carolina Bank and Trust Company, by which the sum of $205,- 
753.79 has been withdrawn from the use of the State, and a large part 
of that sum finally lost. Being compelled to withhold my approval 
from the Act, and to await the reassembling of the General Assembly, I 
feel bound to urge some objections which I might otherwise have 
waived for the sake of avoiding the disadvantages of the delay thus 
occasioned. 

In framing a proper Supply Act the obvious dictate of prudence and 
good administration is to first ascertain how much money is needed, 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 8 % 

and then to provide for that amount. No deficiency should be per- 
mitted to arise except from causes which cannot be foreseen. The 
evils of a departure from this rule are most serious. Every person who 
looks to the State for salary or pay is now, and has been for years past, 
obliged to accept such part only of what is due him as may be realized 
from taxes which are levied, with a certainty that he will, at best, receive 
only a part. In the case of public institutions the evils are still greater. 
Supplies cannot be obtained at cash prices when there are no funds in 
the Treasury, and thus for a considerable part of the year the officers of 
public institutions are subjected to the greatest inconvenience, and the 
public to greatly increased expenses, with no compensating advantages 
whatever. 

In examining the present Act, I propose, in the first place, to take 
the appropriations of the last fiscal year as the basis of calculation of 
the amount required to be raised for the present year ; and, in the sec- 
ond place, to take the actual needs of the public service as such basis, 
and present the results of each method. 

In the first section of the present Act a tax of one and one half (i^) 
mills upon the dollar is levied to meet appropriations for the salaries 
of the executive and judicial officers of the State, and the clerks and 
contingent expenses of the executive and judicial departments, for the 
present fiscal year. The experience of the past year shows that this tax 
will raise $187,500, The appropriations for the last fiscal year under 
this head amounted to $224,105.75. The appropriations under this 
head for the present fiscal year can easily be reduced to the amount 
which will be raised by the levy. The following items in last year's 
appropriations will not be required for the present year : 

1. Salary of Judge of Inferior Court of Charleston County, % 625 00 

2. For additional compensation to County Auditors . . 4,780 75 

3. For portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Sumner, 5,000 00 

4. For expenses of general election, 1874 15,000 00 



Total $25,405 75 

Deducting this amount from the total appropriations under this head, 
we have an aggregate amount of $198,700. 

The contingent funds of the several executive offices can be still 
further reduced on account of the fact that all expenses for stationery, 
postage, and fuel are otherwise provided for by contracts payable from 
the phosphate royalties. 

Upon the basis, therefore, of last year's appropriations, all the regu- 
lar expenses falling within this section can be met by a levy of one 
and one half {\\^ mills. 

In the second section of the Act a levy of one and one half (i4-) 
mills is made to meet appropriations for the penal and charitable 
institutions. This tax will raise $187,500. The appropriations under 
this head for the last year were $195,000. In this case it will be 



1 86 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

easy to bring the appropriations within the receipts for the present 
year. 

In the third section of the Act a levy of two (2) mills is made to 
meet appropriations for the ])ublic schools. This tax will raise $250,- 
000. The appropriations under this head for the last year were $240,- 
000, and so much more as should be produced from the levy of two (2) 
mills, made in the Supply Act of 1874-75. Upon the basis of that 
appropriation no deficiency Avill occur. 

In the fourth section of the Act a levy of one and one fourth (i^) 
mills is made to meet appropriations for legislative expenses. This tax 
will raise $156,250. 

It is evident that a reduction can be made under this head in the 
appropriations for the present year. 

I find, by actual estimate, that the total cost, inclusive of contingent 
expenses, of a legislative session of one hundred days will be only $132,- 

000. Nearly all contingent expenses, except lights, are now provided 
for by contracts payable from the phosphate royalties. A tax for legis- 
lative expenses of one and one tenth (lyV) mills will raise $137,500, 
which will abundantly cover all expenses for a session of one hundred 
days. 

By the fifth section of the Act a levy of one half (i) mill is made to 
meet appropriations for public printing for the fiscal year and the 
deficiency of the last fiscal year. I recommend that this levy be 
changed to two fifths (f) of a mill, which will raise $50,000, the full 
amount of the contract for last year, leaving the deficiency under this 
head to be provided for, as I shall hereafter show, in the levy for other 
deficiencies. There is no good reason why this deficiency should not 
be placed under the proper head of deficiencies. 

By the fourteenth section of the Act a levy of one (i) mill is made 
to pay the deficiencies or unpaid appropriations of the last fiscal year. 
This tax will raise $125,000. The total appropriations for the last fis- 
cal year amounted to $1,282,082.82. The total receipts for the same 
year applicable to the payment of the above appropriations amounted 
to $1,100,934.70. Of this amount there was lost by the failure of the 
South Carolina Bank and Trust Company $127,724.03, leaving the total 
available receipts $973,210.67. The deficiencies, therefore, with the 
loss in the bank, for the last fiscal year amount to $308,872.15. 

The following items of deficiency require to be provided for : 

1. Deficiency in salaries, contingents, etc $ 90,445 31 

2. Deficiency ])enal and oharitable institutions .... 56,486 76 

3. Deficiency public printing 11,875 25 

4. Deficiency in January and July, 1875, interest . . . 30,000 00 

5. Deficiency legislative expenses 7,860 12 

6. Deficiency claims of T. W. Price & Co 12,704 85 

7. Deficiency census-takers 40,000 00 

Total $149,372 20 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 1 8 7 

The remaining items of deficiency are as follows : 

Free schools $11,378 13 

Deficiency free schools and School Commissioners prior 

to November i, 1873 13. 497 72 

Interest, July and January, 1875, ^^ bonus not yet issued, 34,624 01 

The deficiency for free schools represents the excess of the receipts 
over $240,000, the amount of the appropriation. As no liabilities, so 
far as I am aware, have been incurred for this excess, I think it will 
not be necessary to levy for that amount. The next item is not 
properly a deficiency, and should be provided for, if at all, with the 
floating indebtedness of the State. The item for interest represents 
the amount which would have been applicable to the payment of inter- 
est due in 1875, if bonds and stocks in sufficient amount had been 
exchanged. As, however, only $500,000 of consolidated bonds and 
stocks have been issued with coupons maturing in 1875, the levy for 
$30,000, as above recommended, will cover all outstanding coupons or 
interest orders falling due in 1875. To raise an amount of money suf- 
ficient to pay the above-named amount of deficiencies ($249,303.86) 
will require a levy of two (c) mills. 

It is well known to the General Assembly that I am in favor of a 
large reduction of the current expenses of the State Government. I 
believe, on evidence which can be fully exhibited, that the appropria- 
tions provided for in the first five sections of the present Act can be 
reduced by one fourth without the least detriment to the public inter- 
ests I consider it the duty of the General Assembly to do this ; but 
while the appropriations remain at their present limit I am in favor of 
raising money enough by taxation each year to fully meet the appropri- 
ations made for that year. Public interests constantly suffer and the 
public credit is constantly discredited by the practice of making 
appropriations and increasing expenditures largely in excess of the 
funds provided to meet them. 

Having now considered the first five sections of the Act, together 
with the fourteenth section, I proceed to state my objections to the 
sixth section, as it now stands. The proviso of this section seeks to 
limit the use to be made of the proceeds of the levy therein directed to 
the payment, first, of the interest accruing during the present fiscal 
year, and requires the surplus to be expended in the purchase of the 
consolidated bonds and stocks of the State. My objection to this is 
that, in my judgment, it works an essential change in the Act of Decem- 
ber 22, 1873, called the " Consolidation " Act. 

It is clear to me beyond doubt that by that Act the State engages to 
provide for the interest on all bonds offered for exchange under that Act 
from and after July i, 1874, and that any use of the proceeds of taxes 
raised in accordance with that Act which shall prevent the payment in 
cash of the interest due on and after July i, 1874, is a violation of good 
faith and the compact entered into by the State with her public credi- 
tors under that Act. In my Annual Message, which will be laid before 
the General Assembly simultaneously with this Message, I shall present 



l88 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

this matter more fully, and 1 content myself now with recommending 
that the entire proviso in the sixth section be omitted, leaving all ques- 
tions connected with the public debt under the Consolidation Act to 
future legislation. To meet the interest outstanding on consolidation 
bonds and stocks for July, 1874, 1 recommend that by the concluding 
section of the Act these coupons be made receivable for taxes. 

If the views now presented should be adopted, the first six sections 
and the fourteenth section would stand thus : 
Section i. For the salaries, etc., of executive officers, etc. . i| mills. 

" 2. For penal and charitable institutions, etc. . . i^ " 

'' 3. For public schools 2 " 

• '* 4. For expenses of General Assembly lyV " 

" 5. For public printing \ mill. 

" 6. For interest on public debt 2 mills. 

" 14. For deficiencies 2 " 

Total 10^ 

These are all the items in the present Act which make levies for 
regular annual expenses. 

I desire now, most earnestly, to present to your honorable body the 
mode in which, in my deliberate judgment, the above aggregate of tax- 
ation may be largely reduced without in the least degree affecting un- 
favorably the public interests. 

The House of Representatives, at its last session, matured and 
passed a bill by which a reduction of expenses for salaries is effected 
of about thirty thousand dollars annually. Deducting this amount 
from the aggregate amount of the regular appropriations under this 
head for the last year, the amount is reduced to $168,700. 

It will be easy still further to reduce the appropriations to be pro- 
vided for under this section by $14,000, which will reduce the total 
amount required under this head to $156,000, which will require a levy 
of only one and one fourth (i^) mills, a reduction from the above 
estimate of one fourth (J) of a mill. 

As an illustration of the perfect compatibility with public interests 
of large reductions in our former expenditures, I may be permitted to 
refer to the appropriation made at the last session for the Governor's 
contingent fund. It is well known that for the past six years previous 
to the last year this fund has ranged from twenty to thirty thousand 
dollars annually. At the last session it was reduced by my recommen- 
dation to $3,000. This fund has been drawn by me on vouchers, 
which are now on file in the office of the Comptroller General, and at 
the end of the last fiscal year there remained an undrawn balance of 
$247.04. While it would on some accounts have been more agreeable 
to me to have responded somewhat more liberally to some calls upon 
this fund, yet I feel now that no public interest has really suffered 
thereby, while a much needed example of economy and strict ac- 
countability has, I trust, been furnished. Similar results will surely 
attend similar efforts to reduce public expenses under this head. 



A DM IN IS TEA TION. 1 89 

Passing now to the second section of the Act, the appropriations can 
readily be reduced to such an amount as to require the levy of not 
more than one and one fourth {\\) mills, a reduction of one fourth (^) 
of a mill. 

In section 4 a large reduction is demanded. The estimate above 
made, of one and one fourth (i;^) mills, will raise $156,000. The sal- 
aries of the members of the General Assembly, being fixed at $600 
per annum, will require, together with mileage, an appropriation of 
$103,000. The other expenses of the General Assembly depend upon 
the length of the session. I have already shown that the cost of a ses- 
sion of one hundred days will not exceed $137,500. All expenses not 
otherwise provided for necessary to a session of reasonable length, 
say of fifty days, can readily be brought within such an amount as not 
to exceed, in connection with the salaries of members, the sum of 
$125,000, which will require a levy of but one (i) mill, a reduction of 
one tenth (-jJq-) of a mill. 

In section 5 the levy for public printing should be reduced to one 
third (^) of a mill, which would raise about forty-two thousand dollars, 
a sufficient amount to provide for all necessary printing if the same 
should be fairly offered to competition. The result of these changes 
will be as follows : 
Section I. For salaries, etc., of executive officers, etc. . .1^ mills. 

" 2. Penal and charitable institutions, etc \\ " 

" 3. Public schools 2 " 

" 4. For expenses of General Assembly i mill. 

" 5. Public printing \ '' 

" 6. Interest on public debt 2 mills. 

'' 14. Deficiencies 2 '* 

Total 9I " 

I confidently assert that this estimate can be adopted without the 
smallest sacrifice of the public welfare. If so, no duty can be more im- 
perative than to adopt it. At the present time the people of this State 
of all conditions of life demand the lowest possible taxes. It is our 
unquestionable duty to enforce the demand. It should be borne in 
mind that this estimate covers the entire deficiencies which require to 
be provided for, and provides for the payment in full of all appro- 
priations necessary to be made. The entire item of deficiencies will, 
therefore, disappear from the next Supply Act, and thus reduce the en- 
tire levy for the next year to seven and five sixths (yf ) mills, a result of 
more value to the people of the State, and to the political party which 
shall produce it, than any other result which it is now within our 
power to accomplish. 

If, however, the General Assembly does not reduce the expendi- 
tures, I unhesitatingly recommend that the levies be made equal to the 
appropriations. There is no economy in raising less than is to be 
appropriated. The habit has already wrought the greatest mischiefs 
in this State, and should no longer be tolerated. 



190 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The remaining sections of the Act, from the seventh to the twelfth 
inchisive, make levies for objects which may be properly denominated 
the " floating indebtedness " of the State. With respect to these items 
generally, 1 think many of them are of questionable validity, and nearly 
all of them are the results of great extravagance in the past administra- 
tion of the State. To press them to payment in one mass and in one 
year is a hardship which ought not to be imposed upon the State at 
this time. Without entering at this time into details, I recommend 
that all these claims now provided for in the sections of the present Act, 
from the seventh to the twelfth inclusive, be made the suject of a sep- 
arate Act, and that the payment of these claims be distributed over a 
term of years, under such other precautions and regulations as may be 
best adapted to secure justice to the claimants and to the State. This 
will greatly simplify the Supply Act, as well as reduce the burden of im- 
mediate taxation. 

In the fifteenth section of the Act I recommend that such changes be 
made as will impose all requisite duties upon the State Treasurer, 
without giving to any bank the power to withhold payment of checks 
drawn in due form by the State officers. The present provisions of 
this section are utterly unreasonable and impracticable. 

The prompt passage of a just, moderate, and well considered Sup- 
ply Act is demanded by the public interests, and I trust your honorable 
body will readily and wisely discharge this duty. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

By a remarkable conjuncture of influences this veto was 
unanimously sustained in the Legislature. 

The following are examples of the general tone of the com- 
ments on these Mes.sages by the newspapers of the State : 

The Governor is resolute to cnrry on the good work of retrenchment and reform 
which began with his Administration, and his words will be hailed with satisfaction 
by every lover of honest and equal government, in and out of the State. . 
Nor does the Governor content himself with glittering generalities. Already he is 
pressing upon the attention of the Legislature facts and figures by which it is shown 
that the reforms upon which he is bent are as practicable as they are necessary. The 
pubUc opinion of the whole State, and the whole country, sustains Governor Chamber- 
lain in the noble task to which he has devoted his Administration. And now the men 
who were chosen as legislators upon the same platfonn upon which the Governor 
stands so firmly, will do well to have a care how they break their solemn pledges to 
stand by him ! — Charleston Neivs and Courier (Dem.). 



The unanimous vote to sustain the Governor's veto of the tax bill of the last ses- 
sion is a gratifying evidence of the influence for good he has with his party, and a 
singular vindication of the wisdom of those conservative journals of the State which 
have sustained the Governor in the interest of good government in the face of fierce 



ADMINISTRA TIOiV. 



191 



denunciations heaped upon them by their less conservative and more indiscreet con- 
temporaries. O, that the State had more Chamberlains in this her hour of need — 
men who, though loyal to party, could rise above its trammels for the good of the 
whole people ; who could comprehend the situation and elevate the State Government 
to its requirements ! Let others say what they may, and seek to impress the popular 
judgment as they can, as for the intelligent, popular sentiment of Abbeville County, 
without reference to party, the endorsement of Governor Chamberlain is hearty and 
emphatic. This is our " declaration and testimony," without fear, favor, or affection 
(unless it be something of the latter), and so we pronounce for our readers. — Abbeville 
Meditim (Dem.). 





CHAPTER XIII. 

Election of Eight Judges by the Legislature — W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, Jr., 
Chosen for the Charleston and the Sumter Circuits, Respectively — The Election 
Held during a Temporary Absence of the Governor — He Characterizes the 
Election of Whipper and Moses as " a Horrible Disaster " — He Refuses to Sign 
Their Commissions — Alarm and Indignation of Intelligent Citizens and Property- 
Owners — Their Hearty Approval of the Governor's Action — Comment of the 
News and Courier — Despatch of the Charleston Bankers and Merchants — An 
Immense Meeting in Charleston Condemns the Action of the Legislature, and 
Upholds the Governor — Similar Meetings throughout the State — Address of the 
Bar of Charleston and Orangeburg to Judge Reed — His Response — The Gov- 
ernor Issues Newr Commissions to Judges Reed and Shaw — Threats that Whipper 
and Moses will Secure Their Seats on the Bench by Violence — Proclamation of 
Warning by the Governor. 



THIS session of the Legislature is chiefly memorable for an 
offence against public honor and safety on the part of 
the legislative body more flagrant than any other which stained 
the era of Reconstruction in South Carolina, and perhaps the most 
alarming legislative action in any Southern State. It was the 
election of two infamous men as judges, W. J. Whipper for the 
First (Charleston) Circuit, and ex-Governor F. J. Moses, Jr., for 
the Third (Sumter) Circuit. Both of these men had been unsuc- 
cessful candidates for judicial office at the previous session, 
Governor Chamberlain actively opposing their pretensions.' 

There had been much uneasiness and dread respecting the 
action of the Legislature in this matter, and in his Annual Mes- 
sage the Governor referred to the duty to be performed in these 
pointed words: 

" At the present session elections of Judges of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas and of the Supreme Court will take place. It cannot be 
deemed improper for me to present to the General Assembly the para- 
mount importance of a wise discharge of this duty. The ancient fame 

' Chapter IV., pp. 38 et seq. 
192 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 1 93 

of South Carolina in this respect should be kept strictly in mind. The 
standard of character and attainments once universally observed in this 
State should never be lowered. Legal learning, a judicial spirit, and 
a high, and unblemished personal character should mark every man who 
shall be elected to sit in the seats of Harper and Dunkin, of O'Neall 
and Wardlaw. If all these qualities are not attainable, let the one qual- 
ity of personal integrity never be lost sight of . That community may well 
be pitied which is doomed to submit its great interests to the decision 
of one whose judgments v/ill reflect his own passions and interests." 

On the 1 6th of December, 1875, as already recorded, the Gov- 
ernor went to Greenville to deliver an address upon the occasion 
of the awarding of the Whitsitt Prizes for excellence in Greek. 
His engagement for this day had been publicly known for several 
weeks. During this absence from Columbia of but one day, a 
conspiracy, secretly matured among the members of the Legisla- 
ture, was developed in the election of the Circuit Judges, including 
Whipper and Moses. Whipper was chosen by 83 votes to 58 for 
all others ; and Moses by 75 votes to 63 for all others. There can 
be no doubt that this date was selected in order that the Governor 
might not be at hand to interfere with the success of the plot. 
His immediate presence and influence might have thwarted the 
conspirators, as signally as during the previous session. By this 
action of the Legislature the whole State was stunned. Seldom 
has any community in modern times received such a shock. It 
was a moral earthquake by which the citadel of justice was vio- 
lently shaken and left tottering. Demoralization appeared tri- 
umphant. But their was one man who did not quail or despair. 
Upon his firmness and courage all good citizens depended for 
their rescue. He promptly girded himself for the desperate 
struggle thus suddenly forced upon him, and the record shows 
with what spirit, tact, and might he opposed the consummation of 
the wrong and saved the altars of justice from profanation. 

The evil deed was accomplished on a Thursday, which was 
straightway designated " Black Thursday," and is so known in 
South Carolina to this day. Governor Chamberlain's first public 
utterance regarding the situation was made on the Sunday follow- 
ing and published the next morning. It was in the form of an 
interview with the editor of the News and Courier, and is thus 
reported : 



194 GOVERxVOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Columbia, Sunday, December 19th. — Upon my arrival here to-day 
1 sought an interview with Governor Chamberlain, and now give you an 
exact report of what passed. 

Question. — Of course you are aware, Governor, of the result of the 
judicial election. Did you expect that election to take place on Thurs- 
day last ? 

Answer. — I did not, and I had the best reasons for not expecting it. 
On Tuesday, when the Senate passed the concurrent resolution to hold 
the election on Thursday, I spoke to both my Republican and Conser- 
vative friends, telling them that I had a very important engagement in 
Greenville on the evening of Thursday, which I was the more anxious 
to keep because it involved the convenience and interest of so many 
others. I stated that, if the election was to take place on Thursday, I 
must and should remain here ; but I earnestly appealed to them not to 
allow the election then to occur and thus disappoint my friends in 
Greenville. I also addressed a personal note to Mr. Speaker Elliott, in 
which I requested him, on personal as well as public grounds, to use his 
influence to stay the election, not only from occurring on Thursday, but 
to stay it until next week or after the holidays. In answer to this note. 
Speaker Elliott came to my office on Wednesday morning and said he 
regretted that he had not thought of my engagement in Greenville 
before he was asked to favor concurrence in the Senate resolution. 
However, he said, while he might vote for concurrence, owing to his 
previous committal, yet he would speak to his friends, and he thought 
there would be no difficulty in postponing the election until after my 
return from Greenville at the earliest. I accepted this assurance of the 
Speaker and the vote of the House, which was 72 to 31 on the motion 
to lay the Senate resolution on the table, as a sufficient guaranty, and 
left for Greenville on the morning of Thursday, without the slightest 
suspicion that the election would be brought on. It is true that I was 
told just before the train left that there was a bare possibility that the 
election might come off that day ; but it was deemed certain that the 
resolution could at least be fought off until Friday, and I contented 
myself with making arrangements for a special train to bring me back 
to Columbia by Friday morning if necessary. If I had really suspected 
the conspiracy which was developed on Thursday, nothing in the world 
could have induced me to leave Columbia. 

Question. — Had you been present when the election took place, 
could you have changed the result ? 

Answer. — I see no reason to think I could. The conspiracy appears 
to have been carefully concocted. The color line, the party line, and 
the line of antagonism to my Administration, all were sharply drawn ; 
and the tone of the speeches made by the leading supporters of Whipper 
and Moses and Wiggins shows that it required a degree of boldness not 
possessed by many of our legislators to vote in opposition to the com- 
bination. Still it would have been a great satisfaction to me to have 
been on the spot and gone down fighting, if I must go down. 

Question. — Was it not as a combination of the supporters of differ- 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 1 9 5 

ent candidates that the conspiracy of which you have spoken was so 
powerful ? 

Answer. — Yes. The pecuHar strength of the combination lay in 
uniting the interests of a large number of the candidates. This alone, 
I think, caused the defeat of Judge Maher. The opponents of this 
judge had a certain number of votes which they would cast for other 
candidates in other circuits only on condition that the friends of those 
candidates should pay them by voting against Maher. Mr. Wiggins, 
the successful candidate, had no strength, and was a mere leaf on the 
current ; but the combination that took him up was welded together 
by the force of a common purpose to rout an incorruptible judge who 
had been an insurmountable barrier in the way of those who have 
at last overthrown him. 

Question. — How do you look upon the election of Wiggins, Whip- 
per, and Moses ? 

Answer. — I look upon their election as a horrible disaster — a dis- , 
aster equally great to the State and to the Republican party, and, 
greatest of all, to those communities which shall be doomed to feel the 
full effects of the presence of Moses and Whipper upon the bench. I 
did, a year ago, speak publicly of Whipper, who was then a candidate 
for the very position to which he has now been elected. Then I de- 
nounced him as incapable and utterly unfit for the office of judge. Of 
Moses, no honest men can have different opinions. Neither Whipper 
nor Moses has any qualities which approach to a qualification for judi- 
cial positions. The reputation of Moses is covered deep with charges, 
which are believed by all who are familiar with the facts, of corruption, 
bribery, and the utter prostitution of all his official powers to the worst 
possible purposes. This calamity is infinitely greater, ifi my judgment, 
than any which has yet fallen on this State, or, I might add, up07i any part 
of the South. Moses as Governor is endurable compared with Moses 
as Judge. 

Question. — What do you think of Wiggins ? 

Answer. — He is not to be classed morally with Moses and Whip- 
per ; but, in order to defeat Judge Maher, he has consented to be the 
tool of the same combination which elected Moses and Whipper, and, 
as such tool, he will be expected to, and doubtless will, do their work. 

Question. — What, in your judgment, will be the effect of the elec- 
tion of these three men ? 

Answer. — The gravest consequences of all kinds will follow. One 
immediate effect will obviously be the reorganization of the Demo- 
cratic party within the State, as the only means left, in the judgment 
of its members, for opposing a solid and reliable front to this terrible 
crevasse of misgovernment and public debauchery. I could have 
wished, as a Republican, to have kept off such an issue ; but I have a 
profound belief in the logic of events, and a Providence, too, that 
shapes events ; and I do not allow myself to think that the good and 
honest men of South Carolina will find it impossible, because they are 
organized as Democrats, to give their help to whomsoever shall be best 



ig6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

able to undo the terrible wrongs of last Thursday. I am free to say- 
that my highest ambition as Governor has been to make the ascend- 
ancy of the Republican party in South Carolina compatible with the 
attainment and maintenance of as high and pure a tone in the admin- 
istration of public affairs as can be exhibited in the proudest Demo- 
cratic State of the South ; and it was also my fondest hope, by peace- 
ful agencies, here in South Carolina, alone of all the Southern States, 
to have worked out, through the Republican party, the solution of the 
most difficult and one of the most interesting political and social 
problems which this century has presented. If these results shall not 
be reached, the responsibility for the failure will not rest upon me, nor 
upon the Conservative citizens of South Carolina, who have hitherto, 
with unvarying fidelity and generosity, stood by me in my work ; but 
upon those, and all like them, who dealt the cause of good government 
so deadly a blow on Thursday.' 

Question. — Has your attention been called to the question of the 
right of the present Legislature to elect judges, where the incumbents 
had been elected to serve for unexpired terms ? 

Answer. — Yes. I have read the discussions of this question in the 
newspapers, and have listened to the views of several members of the 
bar of the State ; but I cannot say that I have maturely studied the 
question. It is evidently a fair and open question, and involves most 
important consequences. If the judges who have, previous to the 
present session, been elected nominally to fill unexpired terms, are 
entitled under the Constitution to hold for a full term of four years, 
then it follows that this General Assembly had no right to elect their 
successors. This question covers the cases of Whipper, Moses, Judge 
Carpenter, and Judge Cooke ; but you will remember that both Judges 
Carpenter and Cooke are their own successors. 

This ended the interview. F. W. D. 

The hint is given at the conclusion of the interview, that there 
might be ground for declaring the election of Whipper and Moses 
illegal. The press had already raised the point ; but the Gov- 
ernor was unprepared to give an opinion before making a thorough 
examination. This was accomplished with his habitual energy 
and promptness, and two days later his conclusion and decision 
were made known. The commissions of Judges Mackey and 
Northrop, elected at the same time, were signed on Saturday, be- 
fore the conversation with the editor of the News and Courier. 
On the Monday following, the commissions of the six other 
judges elected were presented for his signature. Four of them 
were signed, but those of Whipper and Moses were not signed, 
/ and he placed on file and caused to be published the following 
' The quotation on the title-page is from this paragraph. 



A DAUNIS TRA TION. 1 9/ 

statement of the grounds of his refusal to issue their commis- 
sions : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, December 21, 1875. 

I decHneto sign the commissions of W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, 
Jr., elected as Judges of the Circuit Court of this State by the General 
Assembly, on the i6th inst., for terms to begin on the 26th day of 
August, 1876. 

By the Constitution of the State the Judges of the Circuit Court are 
to be elected for terms of four years. By a series of adjudicated cases 
in the highest court of this State, extending from 1821 to 1872, it has, 
in my judgment, been determined that ofhcers elected under pro- 
visions of law similar to this provision of the present Constitution are 
entitled to hold the offices for the full term prescribed by the Constitu- 
tion or laws under which the election is held. 

It follows that, as the terms of the present incumbents of the offices 
to which the above-named persons claim to have been elected on the 
i6th instant will not expire until after another general election of mem- 
bers of the General Assembly, the present General Assembly has not 
the right to elect their successors. 

While in some cases, presenting similar legal questions, it might not 
be required of the Governor to decline to issue commissions, the cir- 
cumstances of the present case compel me to this course. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

It has been often represented, and perhaps is generally be- 
lieved, that this action of the Governor was a quibble, a make- 
shift without substantial foundation, which was seized upon 
merely as a pretext for keeping these two men off the bench. 
But the Governor's statement claims warrant for his action in a 
series of adjudicated cases in the highest court of the State ex- 
tending over fifty years. If his judgment was sound, not he in 
refusing to issue the commissions, but the Legislature in its haste 
to elect judges, had transgressed the law and usurped authority. 
Afterwards this question, as presented in these cases, was again 
submitted to the courts of the State, and was decided in accord- 
ance with Governor Chamberlain's position, vindicating the right- 
fulness of his action." 

To exaggerate the sensation produced in the ranks of the con- 
spirators by this course of the Governor, would be impossible. 
Their triumph was turned to ashes. All the hatred they had 

' South Carolina Reports, vol. g, p. 5. 



198 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

nursed against him vented itself without measure or restraint. 
They threatened dire vengeance. The Legislature having sud- 
denly undone, in great part, the work of pacification which his 
Administration so far had happily advanced, the prejudices and 
animosities of the white race toward the colored race as rulers were 
instantly revived in full vigor. The whole State boiled like a 
caldron, and in all parts of the Union there was an engrossing in- 
terest in this new phase of South Carolina affairs. 

When Whipper was chosen, R. B. Elliott, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, a colored carpet-bagger from Massachusetts, 
an ex-member of Congress, a person of considerable education, 
superior oratorical power, and unsurpassed influence as a politi- 
cian among his people, seconded the nomination and declared 
that he should regard the vote on it as a test of fidelity to the 
Republican party. It was not strange, therefore, that the action 
of the Governor was followed by the denunciation of him by these 
men as a traitor to his party. They were outspoken in the asser- 
tion of their purpose to succeed in spite of him. Whipper de- 
clared that when the time came he should take the seat of Judge 
Reed and no power should prevent him. The impeachment of 
the Governor was strongly urged, and there is no doubt that it 
would have been attempted but for quailing before the storm of 
hostile sentiment. It was threatened to force the retirement of 
the judges in office by stopping their salaries ; there was even 
wilder talk, which might have had serious results if the baffled 
conspirators had not felt assured of ultimate victory in the courts 
because the father of ex-Governor Moses was Chief-Justice of the 
State and might be expected to come to the rescue of his son. 

While the Governor was thus scoffed at and repudiated by the 
majority of his own party in the State, he was strengthened and 
cheered by a great uprising in his behalf of citizens who appre- 
ciated the fundamental nature of the issue between virtue and 
vice which had been raised. The Nezvs and Courier spoke the 
general sentiment of gratitude in Charleston, saying: 

Think, for a moment, of the complexion given to the election of Moses and Whip- 
per by that refusal to sign their commissions, which has been read with grateful satis- 
faction, this morning, in every State of the Union ! It is no longer possible to say 
that these two persons are stigmatized because of their politics or class : it is no 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



199 



longer possible to declare that the opposition to them is only the expression of Uem- 
ocratic hatred of every thing that is done by Republicans. Governor Chamberlain is 
a New Englander, a soldier of the Union, a Republican from his youth up. Upon 
his loyalty to the Union and the Republican cause there is no stain. President Grant 
declares him to be the best Governor in the South. And this Republican of the 
strictest sect, this Massachusetts Governor of South Carolina, is compelled to cast 
away from him this Whipper and this Moses as things so infamous and unclean that 
they cannot, and must not, stand before the American people as having any recogni- 
tion whatsoever, save that which is found in their election by persons of their own 
character and calling. This will make the horrid story of Black Thursday plain to 
every American citizen. By the first bold blow the fight is half won ! 

Governor Chamberlain has done for the people of South Carolina what no other 
living man could have done. Great was his opportunity, and splendid is the use he 
has made of it. To him, thanks eternal for interposing the shield of the Executive 
authority between the chieftains of the robber band in Columbia and the people of 
the low country of South Carolina. But there is work now for the good people of 
South Carolina to do. Governor Chamberlain must be sustained, and promptly, in 
what he has done. It must be made manifest, and quickly, that the heart of South 
Carolina is touched and her brain convinced. Governor Chamberlain must be 
assured that what he has begun the people will finish. And this assurance can only 
be given by mass-meetings in every county in the State. Let Charleston begin the 
work ! To-morrow night, at latest, there should be an outpouring of the people of 
Charleston in vindication and approval of the conduct of Governor Chamberlain, and 
to express the unfaltering and immovable determination that the men whom the 
General Assembly had the audacity to elect, and whom a Republican Governor has 
refused to commission, shall never administer so-called justice in the courts of South 
Carolina. 

Upon further consideration the proposed mass-meeting was 
postponed until Monday, the 27th of December, " in order that 
no undue haste should lessen its completeness and imposing 
character " ; but the following despatch was forwarded to the 
Governor : 

Charleston, S. C, December 22d. 
To His Excellency Governor Chamberlain, Cohnnbia, S. C: 

Irrespective of parties, desiring peace and protection for persons and property, 
believing that a blow has been struck in the late judicial election, threatening ruin to 
the people of the State, we tender you, for this community and the State, our thanks 
for your action in refusing to sign the commissions. We thank you, and will do all 
we can to sustain you in what you have done. 

Andrew Simonds, President First National Bank. 

E. H. Frost, President South Carolina Loan and Trust Company. 

George E. Gibbon, President People's Bank of South Carolina. 

Charles O. Witte, President People's National Bank. 

A. S. Johnston, President Bank of Charleston. 

L. D. Mowry, President Union Bank of South Carolina. 



200 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Wm. C. Bee& Co., 

W. B. Smith & Co., 

Crane, Boylston, & Co., 

George W. Williams & Co., 

Geo. a. Trenholm & Son, 

James Adger & Co., 

S. Y. TupPER, President Charleston Chamber of Commerce. 

To this approbation the Governor made the following- 
response : 

Columbia, S. C, December 22d. 
I thank you for your despatch. The issue rises higher than party, and I shall 
not fail of the full measure of my duty if I know what it is. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

The 22d of December was " Forefathers' Day," and it was 
celebrated in Charleston, as usual, by a banquet of the New Eng- 
land Society, to which the Governor had been invited. He was 
not present, but he sent a despatch which made a profound impres- 
sion not only upon those to whom it was addressed, but upon the 
whole country, chiefly because its intense and kindling eloquence 
had been anticipated by deeds that heightened the value of every 
appropriate word. The following account of the reading of the 
despatch is taken from the News and Courier s report of the pro- 
ceedings. The presiding ofificer who proposed the sentiment, in 
response to which the telegram was read, was Hon. James B. 
Campbell, a native of Oxford, Mass., but an old and venerated 
citizen of South Carolina. 

" The State of South Carolina " — and I would take leave to add — " for better, 
for worse, — God bless her ! " [Tremendous applause.] Governor Chamberlain had 
been invited to respond, but public duties had prevented him. He (Mr. Campbell) 
was not going to answer for him ; he should be proud if he had the ability, the ac- 
complishments, and, what ought to be valued even more highly than these, the pluck 
to answer for him. But he held in his hand a despatch in which Governor Chamber- 
lain spoke for himself, and he was sure, when they heard his words, that every son 
of the Mayflower would be proud to feel that it was a son of New England who was 
presiding over the destinies of South Carolina. [Great applause.] 

Mr. Campbell then read the Governor's telegram, as follows : 

Columbia, S. C, December 22, 1875. 
To the New England Society, care of Win. S. Jfastie, Jr., Charleston, S. C: 

I cannot attend your annual supper to-night ; but if there ever was an hour when 
the spirit of the Puritans, the spirit of undying, unconquerable enmity and defiance 
to wrong ought to animate their sons, it is this hour, here, in South Carolina. 



A DMINIS TEA TION. 20 1 

The civilization of the Puritatt and the Cavalier, of the Roundhead and the 
Huguettot, is in peril. Courage, Detenninati on, Union, Victory, must be our watch- 
words. The grim Puritans never quailed under threat or blow. Let their sons now 
imitate their example ! 

God bless the New England Society ! 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

The Governor's words were listened to with intense interest, and at the close of 
the reading there was a tremendous outburst of applause, lasting several minutes. 
The band played " Hail to the Chief ! " 

The meeting held in Charleston on the following Monday 
(December 27th) was the first of numerous popular demonstrations 
held in most of the counties of the State. They were in their 
character and incidents significant of two thing which it- is impor- 
tant to keep in mind: (i) the general confidence of the more 
intelligent citizens in Governor Chamberlain's fidelity to high 
ideals of government ; and (2) the strong conviction of the same 
class that the majority of the Republican party, being obedient 
to corrupt leaders, could not be trusted to support him, and must 
be overcome and made impotent in public affairs. The following 
account of the Charleston meeting is abridged from the report in 
the News and Courier. 



The Hibernian Hall was thronged last night with the white citizens of Charleston, 
who had assembled together to protest against the election of Whipper and Moses to 
the circuit bench, and to give expression to their hearty approval of the wise and 
patriotic conduct of Governor Chamberlain. It was the largest and most influential 
meeting of white citizens that has beeniield in Charleston these ten years. A marked 
feature of the meeting was the enthusiasm with which the declarations of the determi- 
nation and power of the good citizens to redeem the State was received ; sfeid the 
vociferous applause with which every word was hailed that pointed to a susn^ining 
of Governor Chamberlain, to an exclusion, at any cost, of Whipper and Moses' from 
the bench, and to the maintenance of the rights and privileges of the colored citizens 
under the law and the Constitution. The meeting was called to order by Colonel B. 
H. Rutledge, who said : 

Fellow-citizens : — We are in the midst of a great crisis in our affairs. We have 
the safety of our property and our liberties, and, it may be, our lives, at stake. A 
-blow has been aimed directly at the very centre of our civilization. Our honor has 
been trampled into the very dust. [Cheers.] Under these circumstances it becomes us 
to consult together, and, further, to promulgate the result of our deliberations calmly, 
seriously, earnestly, resolutely. It is for this purpose that we are met here to-night, 
and it is proposed that this meeting do organize immediately, without further pre- 
liminaries, under the following officers, taken from among the most respectable, the 
most influential and the most responsible of our fellow-citizens : 



202 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

President — G. W. Williams. 
Vice-Presidents. — C. T. Lowndes, W. D. Porter, Robert Adger, S. Y. Tupper, 
A. R. Taft, E. H. Frost, William Lebby, R. Tomlinson, John F. O'Neill, H. A. 
Middleton, A. B. Bose, B. Bollman, Thomas Miller, C. Irvine Walker, Hugh Fergii- 
-son, H. T. Williams, H. Bullwinkle, Wm. Bell Smith, Andrew Simonds, C. O. Witte, 
A. S. Johnston, L. D. Mowry, H. Gourdin, Alva Gage, W. C. Bee, Jacob Small, 
J. B. Bissell, J. M. Eason, F. J. Pelzer, J. L. Tobias, C. G. Ducker, J. J. Wescoat, 
D. A. Amme, Alex. McLoy, Louis Cohen, W. G. Whilden, W. W. Sale. 

SECRETARIES. — G. D. Bryan, J. Ancrum Simons, A. C. Kaufman. 

REMARKS OF MR. WILLIAMS. 

Fellotv-citizens : — While thanking my friends for the compliment in calling me to 
preside over this meeting, I would greatly prefer to see one of more experience in my 
place. I feel, however, that in a crisis like this, every citizen must do his duty. The 
objects of the meeting have my cordial sympathy. I hope an expression of approval 
from the good citizens of Charleston will go forth to-night, that will strengthen Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain in his manly and patriotic efforts for reform and for the preserva- 
tion of law and order. At this trying peroid, caution must be united with firmness, 
to preserve the peace, honor, and integrity of our State. 

It requires Roman firmness in Governor Chamberlain to stand, as he does, like a 
granite wall between an oppressed people and those who seek by foul means to rob 
them of their lives, liberties, and homes. For his fidelity and devotion, let a united 
voice go from the seaboard to the mountain top : " Well done, good and faithful 
servant." 

REMARKS OF GEN. JAMES CONNER. 

I had hoped never again to make a political speech. It is foreign to my disposi- 
tion and pursuits ; but there are occasions when private inclination must yield to public 
duty, when every citizen must consider the State first and himself last ; and this, in 
my judgment, is such an occasion. [Cheers.] We are brought, by recent events, 
face to face with great issues. I am old enough to remember many eventful periods 
in the history of this State ; but I can recall not one more momentous than the pres- 
ent. [Cheers.] 

The question is not, how you can live here, but whether you can live here at all. 
[Applause.] You have either to redeem the Slate or quit it. You must make a good 
government, or they will make a Hayti. For one I claim a heritage in the State, 
and I will not be driven from it. [Tremendous cheering.] Since i86S the Republi- 
can party has ruled the State. No such government has ever before shocked the 
civilized world. No people have ever endured so much so patiently and so long. We 
have never even organized for resistance. We have sought relief through conciliation 
and compromise ; and I do not condemn it. I say it was well ; for had it not been 
tried, there are those who would have claimed that it was the true remedy and the 
sole panacea for all our ills. We have tried it, and have demonstrated by failure its 
utter inefficiency. [Loud cheering.] 

When Governor Chamberlain stumped the State in his canvass for Governor, he 
pledged himself to Reform, and to lift from the Republican party of the nation and 
the State the odium and reproach of South Carolina politics. His party cheered him 
to the echo, and held him forth as their champion, and his speech as the expression 



ADMINISTRA TION. 203 

of the will of the party to purify itself. But no sooner does he attempt to maintain 
his pledged faith and lift his party from the slough of corruption, than they repudiate 
his councils, defeat his plans, and crown their infamy by inflicting upon the people 
of this State a degradation greater than ever yet imposed. [Loud applause.] The 
election of Moses and Whipper was the legislative answer to his effort to reform the 
party from within. 

All that stands now between us and the degradation of the bench is the wise and 
bold action of the Governor. He stands erect, bearing the wrath of his own party, 
to maintain unbroken his pledge of reform. As he is true to his duty, let us be true 
to ours and stand firmly and unitedly by him in support of the right. It is the path 
of duty ; it is the path of wisdom and of safety. [Loud cheers.] 

There are two courses open : Abject submission to this and the worse yet to come, 
or a iirm, determined resistance. [Cheers.] I would not be here to-night if I had 
not faith and hope in the future. [Loud cheers.] Just so strong as is my conviction 
of the moral government of the world, of the sure triumph of wisdom, truth, and 
right over ignorance, falsehood, and wrong, just so deep and settled is my conviction 
that the State can be saved. [Wild cheering.] But it cannot be saved by resolu- 
tions, by popular applause or popular assemblies. It can be saved only as every 
great and good thing is accomplished, by 7i'07-k — hard, earnest, persistent work ; work 
into which the whole heart and manhood are infused, work despite all obstacles and 
over obstacles, work that means to win and will not be defeated. [Tremendous cheer- 
ing.] There must be organization, thorough, complete, over the whole State, to 
sweep from power those who have betrayed the trust which was confided to them. 
Every man, young and old, from the mountains to the seaboard, must be organized, 
ready and willing to meet every issue as it may arise, and to hold the next election as 
the paramount duty of the hour, that to which every interest must be subordinate, and 
every difference of opinion sacrificed. [Cheers.] Secure the election, and the rest 
will follow ! [Cheers.] Permit me now to submit, for your consideration, the fol- 
lowing address and resolutions, which express, we believe, the feelings and the de- 
termination of this community : 

THE ADDRESS. 

We have assembled to confer upon a condition of affairs as grave as ever imperilled 
the peace and well-being of any community. 

The foundation of society is a pure Judiciary, and its corruption, or perversion to 
evil purposes, destroys the last hope of securing to a people protection and liberty. 

The action of the Legislature in electing, as judges, W. J. Whipper and F. J. 
Moses, Jr., men whose proper places in a courthouse is the criminal's dock, is an 
insult to every honest citizen and a violation of every safeguard which the law affords 
to life, liberty, and property. 

But this action is not in itself the full measure of the evil that confronts us. Bad 
as it is, its graver aspect is in what it signifies. 

We recognize in the recent judicial elections the ascendancy and control of the 
worst elements of the political party which governs the State. Actuated by a relent- 
less hate based upon race, and stimulated by the prospect of " plunder and revenge," 
they have repudiated all restraint, and inaugurated a policy which inevitably leads to 
the destruction of decent government, ruins the material interests of the State, and 



204 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

imperils our very civilization. Under such a condition of things, Law ceases to pro- 
tect, and Government itself becomes the oppressor. 

What shall we do to avert the destruction which must surely result from the con- 
summation of the policy thus inaugurated ? 

Since 1868 the Conservative citizens of this State have put aside party obligations 
and the hopes of party ascendancy ; have put no party ticket in the field, but have 
sought and hoped for peace, stability, and pure government through the Republican 
party. They have striven not to antagonize, but to harmonize, conflicting races, in- 
terests, and opinions, patiently waiting to obtain, as the fruits of their forbearance, 
the blessings of good government. 

In every form in which the effort could be made it has been tried, and when, 
through the wise, firm, and patriotic Administration of Governor Chamberlain, the 
end seemed about to be obtained, a Republican Legislature repudiates the honest 
efforts of a Republican Governor, impatiently resents his control, and with a reck- 
lessness born of ignorance and hate, commits the State to a career destructive of its 
peace and fatal to its prosperity. The failure to obtain relief through the agency of 
the Republican party of the State is utter and hopeless. 

The responsibilities and obligations imposed upon us in this emergency must be 
fearlessly met. 

It is our first duty as citizens, to whom the character and future of the State is 
dear, earnestly and solemnly to protest against the action of those who have not only 
brought reproach upon their own party, but have endangered the very foundations of 
our social fabric, and to use every means to wrest from them the power which they 
have so wantonly abused. 

We deprecate all appeal to passion and prejudice, but it behooves us to speak 
plainly. The attempt to place infamy aad coiTuption in the seat of Justice violates 
the primal instincts of civilized humanity, and to that we will not submit. The right 
to justice and good government is one which we dare not relinquish. 

With no hostility to the colored people of the State, mindful of the good conduct 
of those who have not been misled by evil counsels, we are determined to preserve to 
them every right and privilege guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the coun- 
try ; but the avowed purpose that there shall not be equality, but a domination of 
their race over the property and rights of the white people of the State, will be re- 
.sisted to the last, and under no circumstances shall it prevail. 

We appeal to the honest and intelligent portion of them, who bear their share of 
the political shame, but share no part of the political plunder, while there is yet time, 
to turn away from the evil counsels which are leading them to a contest which must 
end in their utter ruin. 

We raise no political issue. " The issue rises higher than party," and seeks the 
end for which parties are organized. 

We recognize the earnestness and fidelity with which a portion of the Republican 
party, under the leadership of Governor Chamberlain, has striven to establish a gov- 
ernment which should respect the rights and protect the interests of all the people of 
the State. But they have failed. The worst elements of their party have defeated 
them. With confidence in their sincerity, we ask them to continue their efforts, and 
without the abandoment of political principles to aid us in the attainment of a com- 
mon end, the establishment of pure and honest government. Be it therefore — 



ADMINISTRA TION. 20$ 

Resolved, That as citizens of this State we protest against the action of the Gen- 
eral Assembly in electing, as judges, men so notoriously corrupt as W. J. Whipper 
and F. J. Moses, Jr., and avow our determination to resist it to the end. 

2. That we protest against the continuance in office of legislators so regardless of 
duty and so reckless of the character, the peace, and the prosperity of the State, and 
we will use every effort to drive them from power. 

3. That we cordially endorse the action of Governor Chamberlain in refusing to 
issue commissions as judges to W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, and pledge to him 
the full support of this community in his efforts to secure to the people of the State a 
faithful administration of the law. 

4. That we tender to Governor Chamberlain our grateful thanks for the bold and 
statesmanlike struggle he has made in the cause of reform, in the economical admin- 
istration of the government, in the preservation of the public faith, in the equal ad- 
ministration of justice, and in the maintenance of the public peace, and we pledge 
him our cordial support for the accomplishment of these ends. 

REMARKS OF COL. B. C. PRESSLEY 

Mr. President and Fellow-eitizens : — We have occasion to learn now, as often be- 
fore, the important lesson that the simplest and most natural method of accomplish- 
ing a laudable purpose is at last the easiest, the best, and by far the most effectual. 
In our greatest straits, our sore extremities, we are tempted to rush into desperate 
mea.sures ; but, postponing that action, somehow, from a source unlooked for, a relief 
effectual and beneficial has come to us, and thus our cause has been saved, and we 
feel grateful that we have not been led to do that which might bring us in condemna- 
tion by our fellow-citizens. Such is one of the sore extremities through which we 
have lately seemed to pass, but are still passing. The partisans had laid well their 
plans for our final submission and subjugation. The conspirators had joined hand and 
hand ; the robbers had almost within their clutches the Treasury of the State ; and 
not only that, but the right and title to the property of every citizen within the State. 

Now let us consider well the emergency in which we are placed. Remember, 
the Sinking Fund had already gone — gone, no one knows where, except, perhaps, the 
would-be judge, Whipper. The State by millions had been plunged into debt. Taxa- 
tion upon taxation had been endured, until the people could not endure it longer. 
What was left for the plunderers, except that they should get possession of the bench,, 
and by orders mandamuses, ejectments, etc., force the property from the people for 
division among themselves, so that you and I should be compelled to pay for justice 
on the bench or have injustice forced upon us. Well, indeed, did the robbers 
have their plans laid. Their forces were organized, drilled, and brought to battle, 
and the cry of victory had rung out in the halls of the Legislature. But not so ! 
They gloated over the visions of coming wealth, and with these bright images float- 
ing through their brains, they went to sleep. But before their dreams could be real- 
ized, before they could take possession of our property, they must get the deed 
signed and sealed. Just in the same way it was necessary that a signature should be 
put to the commissions of these robbers. They awakened in the morning to find 
their dream fade away, as the stars fade before the rising sun. 

Sometimes, fellow-citizens, there are official acts done simply under the impulse of 
conscientious duty, done in a natural way, which burst upon us with all the blaze and 



206 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

glory and surprising power of a sudden successful revolution ! Such a revolution did 
Governor Chamberlain achieve when he refused his signature to the commissions of 
these two judges. [Applause.] It was like one of those revelations of genius which 
disclose to us natural laws which, when put into operation, accomplish results which 
experienced minds had pronounced impossible. Thus men of intellect toil and climb, 
year by year, and one round after another, up the ladder to fame. They rise higher 
and higher until they come to that point which the world calls eminence. But genius 
united with will steps in, and rises at once, by its buoyancy, and mounts at once to 
the place where the great Webster says : " There 's room enough. No crowding 
there." To such an eminence did Governor Chamberlain raise himself in a single 
night. [Applause.] 

What would we have done if he had not acted for us ? As I said, the plans of the 
conspirators were well laid, and had these commissions been signed, who among us 
could have considered life or property, or any thing he holds near and dear, safe and 
sacred ? What reason had we to hope for redress from the Supreme Court ? Gov- 
ernor Moses, the son of the Chief-Justice, used all his efforts to be elected. Can 
any of us doubt that the opinion of his father was, in some way, known to him, and 
that he had been satisfied, beforehand, that a decision would be rendered by the 
Supreme Court sustaining the ground that the terms of Judges Reed and Shaw had 
expired ? Is it reasonable to suppose that Moses would have made the efforts he did 
unless he knew the opinion of his father on the subject ? Wright (the colored associ- 
ate justice), however disposed he may be to do right, could not have stood up against 
the issues of race which had been thrust upon him by the Legislature. Then, so far 
as the Supreme Court is concerned, we may regard it as settled that, if the question 
had gone before them, these commissions would have been sustained. Where was 
our hope ? South Carolina has always been averse to Lynch law. The voice of our 
people is against it. But I will not undertake to say, in our sore necessity, what we 
would have done, when it came to the alternative of no law or Lynch law — between 
law administered by a corrupt judge, and law administered by an irregular jury drawn 
in the night-time. [Applause and cheering.] However we may have answered that 
question, and to whatever extremity we may be reduced in the future, does it not re- 
joice our hearts to know that we have been relieved, at least for the present, from 
the solution of that question, and that it is due to Governor Chamberlain ? [Ap- 
plause.] 

And now we have come here to sustain him, and' if we are to pledge to him 
our support, it is important for us to consider whether he be right, and whether it will 
be right to sustain him. After a very careful investigation of this question, as a legal 
question, and that before his decision was known, or before it was even known that 
he had it in contemplation, I and other members of the bar, after careful study of the 
matter, came to the conclusion that, without the shadow of a doubt, before any fair 
legal tribunal. Judges Shaw and Reed would be declared lawfully elected for a term 
of four years, and no Legislature had the power and the right to fill their places at 
this time. I say, fellow-citizens, that upon this point I have not the shadow of a 
doubt, nor do I know a single lawyer who has investigated the matter thoroughly who 
has not formed the same opinion. And if the Legislature, in searching for plunder, 
attempted to place others in the places of Judges Reed and Shaw, it was the duty of 
the Governor — it was his constitutional duty — to refuse them their commissions. Is 



ADMINJSTKA TION. 20/ 

the Governor the judge to determine whether the Legislature has done right or 
wrong ? No ; but he is the judge to determine his own duties. The two depart- 
ments are separate, and, as it is the duty of the Governor to commission all officers 
duly elected, so it is his duty to refuse to commission these two officers whose places 
are already filled. He is to see that the laws are faithfully executed. So, in this 
case, when he is called upon to eject from office two judges whom he has already 
commissioned, he boldly and nobly refuses. [Applause and loud cheering.] 

If the Supreme Court should decide that the elections were valid, would not that 
same court be apt to grant a mandamus against the Governor, and compel him to 
issue the commissions ? Did you ever hear of such a thing before ? Would any thing 
like that be talked of in a State where law was recognized ? Who ever heard of 
mandamusing a Governor ? Are not the Executive and the Judicial departments dis- 
tinct ? Or if the Supreme Court can travel out of its jurisdiction to grant manda- 
muses against anybody, why don't it mandamus the Legislature of the State ? Is it 
not known that the Constitution of South Carolina expressly requires that the Legis- 
lature shall provide for the registration of voters ? It is, in plain terms. Has the 
Legislature done it ? No ! Well, then, why don't the Supreme Court mandamus 
it ? Why, simply because it is none of its business. If the Governor does an. act, 
the Supreme Court can pass upon its legality ; but no Legislature nor Supreme Court . 
can mandamus him to do an act. So the action of the Governor is a final checkmate, : 
in my opinion. [Cheers.] The only resort which this corrupt majority can have is 
.by impeachment. Well, what will be the result of such action ? Well, sufficient ' 
unto the day is the evil thereof. If Gen. Grant, the President of the United States, f 
thinks that Governor Chamberlain ought to be impeached, then, if he will erect the ' 
United States flag over the Statehouse, and station his soldiery outside while that im- '^ 
peachment is going on, then it may be safely done. We never intend to fight against \ 
the United States again. [Cheers.] But if this Legislature, without that United ^ 
States flag floating over them, attempt to impeach the Governor — Well ! I would n't 
like to be the insttrance agent that held policies on their lives. [Immense applause.] 

I tell you that we have drunk the last drop of the bitter cup of that sort that we 
intend to drink, unless the United States army says so. I thought we had taken 
enough already before Whipper and Moses were elected to be our judges. So, fel- 
low-citizens, Governor Chamberlain may go to sleep andsleep soundly, and wake up 
gloriously ; for they don't dare to touch a hair of his head, because the people are 
awake, and they 're not going to sleep again. [Applause.] The time has come for 
action ! There must be no mental reservations, when we say we will stand by Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain. We mean it as our fathers meant it when they pledged their 
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor ; and I see by your responses and in your 
faces that this is what you all mean by it. Stand up for your civilization, your prop- 
erty, your lives, and your honor. [Prolonged applause.] 

The adoption of the preamble and resolutions was seconded 
by Mr. J. Adger Smythe, who made an earnest speech in the 
same strain. Major Rudolph Siegling concluded a vigorous 
address, setting forth the magnitude of the peril of a corrupt 
judiciary and the necessity of " uniting all the elements of popu- 



208 GOVERNOR CH AMBER LAIN' S 

lar honesty and all the forces of self-preservation " for the 
redemption of the State, with these words : 

Let ours, fellow-citizens, be the duty not only to resolve upon, but to effect this 
redemption. [Cheers.] It may be that in the discharge of that duty we shall have 
to pass through a dark valley overcast with lowering clouds. But in the vista there 
is a silver streak, in the person of the Chief Magistrate of South Carolina. In the 
position which Governor Chamberlain has assumed he has entitled himself not only to 
the support and gratitude of every honest citizen of whatever party, but has performed 
an act of statesmanship and of moral courage which has but few parallels in the his- 
tory of popular government. As it has been forcibly said elsewhere, he has made a 
manly effort to[ward] the improvement of the State by strictly confining himself to his 
legitimate duties, by leaving capital to find its most lucrative course, commodities 
their fair price, industry and intelligence their natural reward, idleness and folly their 
natural punishment, by maintaining peace, by defending property, by diminishing the 
price of law, and by observing strict economy in every department of the State. 
This has been the aim of his Administration. Let the virtuous citizens of the State 
organize and earnestly co-operate with him, and redemption will surely follow. 
[Applause.] 

Major Theodore G. Barker said : 

I see no necessity that there should be a conflict of races. [Cheers.] The times 
are much changed since iS68 and 1870. The colored people have learned the lesson 
that the United States Government will not deprive the white people of this or any 
other State of any right or privilege guaranteed to them by the Constitution. That 
Constitution secures to us the right to bear arms, and until it is revoked we will 
bear arms in spite of them. [Loud cheers.] It is our right ! But let no excitement 
precipitate you into any conflict with that race, the majority of whom are not, in full 
measure, responsible for this condition of things. In the next canvass I expect to 
see the white property-holders and the black, the white laborers and the black, the 
white mechanics and the black, united as never before, from the mountains to the sea- 
board, in one firm eflfort to rescue civilization from a corrupt Legislature. I have not 
thought out the contingencies of the programme. If these men (Whipper and Moses), 
who are mockeries of their race [cheers], should attempt to take their places on the 
bench, I expect to see a united and concerted effort to rescue power, at the ballot- 
box, from those who now hold and abuse it. I urge on those who have, and those 
who hope to have, property the necessity of contributing to that end. Secure that 
election, and we have the means of sustaining Governor Chamberlain, or any suc- 
cessor who may guarantee reform. The power of taxation, the power of legislation 
will then be ours, and these will relieve us, now and hereafter, from the dangers to 
which we are now exposed. [Loud cheers.] 

The preamble and resolutions were adopted without a single 
dissenting voice, as was the following resolution offered by Mr. 
C. Richardson Miles : 

Resolved, That the chairman forward a copy of the preamble and resolutions just 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 209 

adopted to Governor Chamberlain, in evidence of the esteem in which his labors, in 
the cause of good government, are held by this community. 

The following resolution, introduced by Col. C. H. Simonton, 
was unanimously adopted, and the meeting then adjourned : 

Resolved, That to carry into effect the objects declared in the preamble and reso- 
lutions just adopted, the chairman of this meeting do, at his leisure, appoint an ex- 
ecutive committee of fifteen citizens, who shall thoroughly organize this county for 
the attainment of the ends proposed. 

At a large meeting in Georgetown, Richard Dozier presided. 
Col. B. H. Wilson presented the resolutions, which were seconded 
by Alonzo Jackson, a colored man, and Parson Mosell, another 
colored man, made one of the effective speeches. 

The following shows the action at Orangeburg: 

Orangebi'RG, S. C, December 31, 1875. 
To His Excellency , D. H. Chamberlain : 

My Dear Sir — Enclosed find communication from the Bar of Orangeburg, 
which I have the honor to send you on behalf of my brethren. 

We were unwilling to let an occasion pass whereon we could testify, for our 
county, our appreciation of your bold and manly stand, and to show you that we are 
prepared to support you in all your endeavors to put down the gross corruption exist- 
ing in our State. 

I will send you to-morrow a similar acknowledgment on behalf of our citizens 
generally. They have been rushing to sign, and all in town have signed. Still I pre- 
ferred waiting for more signatures from the country. 

With great respect, I am yours, etc., 

W. J. De Treville. 

To His Excellency D. H. Chamberlain, Governor of the State of South Carolina : 
The undersigned members of the Bar of Orangeburg, having read the resolutions 

adopted by the citizens and Bar of Charleston, on the 28th instant, beg leave to state 

to your Excellency our entire and sincere approval and endorsement of the same. 
Thomas W. Glover, W. F. Hutson, W. M. Hutson, W. J. De Treville, Jas. F. 

Izlar, Mortimer Glover, C. B. Glover, JuKus Glover, T. B. Whaley, S. Dibble, 

Malcolm I. Browning, James S. Heyward. 
December 30, 1875. 

The declaration of the citizens was in the same terms. To 

these expressions of approval the Governor made the following 

response : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, January 2, 1876. 
My Dear Mr. De Treville : — I gratefully acknowledge the re- 
ceipt from you of the endorsement of the Bar of Orangeburg County 
of the address and resolutions of the citizens of Charleston, adopted on 
the 28th ult. By the same mail I received the similar endorsement of 



2IO GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the citizens at large of your town and county of the same address and 
resolutions. 

Personally, I claim no merit for my recent action. I did no more 
than any right-thinking man in my place 7mist have done. But I am 
deeply grateful for the proofs which every day reach me of the ap- 
proval of my fellow-citizens. The recent judicial elections in the First, 
Second, and Third Circuits cannot be tolerated. They warn us that 
the hard-earned triumphs of long centuries are again in danger, that we 
must combine again to turn back the incoming tide of corruption and 
incompetency which will, unchecked, rise over our whole State. 

In the presence of a common danger all true men must unite. In 
this spirit i interpret all the support now given to me, and in that 
spirit I will use it. 

Please make known to all my brethren of the Orangeburg Bar, and 
all my fellow-citizens who thus sustain my action, that I shall be in- 
spired to continued fidelity to my trusts by the knowledge of their ap- 
proval. 

And so let me remain, my dear sir, 

Your obliged fellow-citizen, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

In Sumter, in the circuit for which Ex-Governor Moses had 
been chosen judge, a great meeting was held on the 3d of Jan- 
uary. The Music Hall was filled with the substantial citizens of 
the county. T. B. Frazer presided, and there were nineteen vice- 
presidents. The president in his address said: "It is one of the 
purposes of this meeting to announce to F. J. Moses, Jr., that he 
shall never take his seat as judge in our courthouse, unless placed 
there by federal bayonets." Resolutions presented by Capt. E. W. 
Moise were unanimously adopted, among them the following: 

I. That this meeting denounce the action of the Legislature in this matter as 
ruinous to the people and destructive of good government. 

3. That we regard the action of the Governor in withliolding commissions from 
these persons as patriotic, justihable, and right. 

4. That Governor D. H. Chamberlain has illustrated by his conduct the noble 
ends which may be achieved by a stranger, who differs from many of us in matters of 
political faith, but who unites with good men of all views in measures of earnest 
reform, and this people will sustain him to the end. 

9. That, invoking the blessing of Divine Providence upon our resolutions, we 
now appeal to all patriotic citizens, white or colored, of all shades of political 
opinion, to assist us in an effort to restore good government to the State, by securing 
to all persons their full legal rights of person and property, without infringing the 
sacred privileges of others, and especially do we appeal to and rely upon the aid and 
assistance of those leading men of the country who control the national parties in this 
last struggle against degradation and disgrace. 



A DMINIS TEA TION. 2 1 I 

Captain Moise, in supporting his resolutions, said : 

We must have a leader, and I propose to you one who is eminently fitted for the 
position, a true Republican — a man of courage, learning, and ability. I refer to 1). 
II. Chamberlain, our present Governor, who has shown even his worst foes the 
triumph of duty over party considerations — whose acts are epics, and whose words 
are " apples of gold in pictures of silver." Under his lead we cannot be accused of 
seeking Democratic ascendancy as an end, nor of a desire to abridge the rights of any 
as a means. 

The other addresses were by J. S. Richardson, James D. 
Blanding, and Charles H. Moise, and their temper may be inferred 
from the concluding sentence of the last-named speaker: 

Should F. J. Moses, Jr., by any legal trickery, attempt to ascend the steps of the 
courthouse to take his seat as judge, I, Charles H. Moise, forty-six years of age, with 
a wife and ten children to support, am ready to unite with a band of determined 
men, and with muskets on our shoulders, defend that temple of justice from such a 
desecration. 

The voice of Barnwell, for which circuit Wiggins had been 
chosen, was spoken in an immense mass-meeting, over which Gen- 
eral Johnson Hagood presided, also held on the 3d of January. 
Many leading men of the county took part, but the principal 
address was made by the venerable Judge A. P. Aldrich, who 
began with the remark that he thought he had attended his last 
political meeting and made his last political speech. 

The following extracts from his speech indicate the spirit that 
animated all the speakers and was formally expressed in the 
resolutions : 

I say to you, as I have said to Governor Chamberlain, I cannot withhold the 
grateful expression pf my thanks for the patriotism and manhood he has displayed 
in the rebuke administered to the Legislature for their outrage against virtue, decency, 
and justice in the election of these judges. You all know Maher ; he was born here 
in this village, of virtuous parents, raised in our midst, accepted this ofifice at the 
solicitation of the Republican party who elected him, has been true to his education 
and instincts, made a judge of whom we and they are proud, and because he 
has administered the law without fear, favor, or partiality, his place has been 
supplied by Wiggins ! You all know Wiggins so well that I need not increase your 
disgust by dwelling on his incompetency, and, I may add, venality. I say this 
reluctantly, for the creature has the good quality of amiability ; but he proves, 
as every lawyer in this circuit knows, his utter unfitness for the ofifice. I hope he will 
not make it necessary, before next August, to prove the official misconduct of which 
he has been guilty to confine him to a much narrower circuit than the Second. Why, 
fellow-citizens, I cannot contemplate this stupendous outrage without horror and dis- 
may. Your executive department may be pure, your legislative department may be 



212 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

pure, hut if the department of justice is corrupt, what security have you for 
life, liberty, or property ? 

And see your condition to-day — a gallant Governor struggling against a Legisla- 
ture who will elect such judges. Does it not awaken all your sympathies, arouse all 
your manhood, and reproach all your patriotism ? It has required the courage of a 
Repul)lican to arouse our manhood. I am stunned ; I cannot realize the abject 
degradation to which we have been reduced. We, who claim such a past, and see 
such a future for our children ! . . . The Governor has disposed of Moses and 
Whipper ; let us see that Wiggins makes a graceful retreat. We can't stand it. He 
knows his perfect inability to fill this office as well as we do, and I cannot conceive 
he will presume to thrust himself on a reluctant bar and a still more reluctant people. 
I am perfectly satisfied if these men attempt to preside in these three circuits, it will 
be a deliberate act of suicide. 

And now, fellow-citizens, we must give Governor Chamberlain a generous, earn- 
est, and united support. The political brigands and banditti have entrenched them- 
selves in the State-house, and have raised the black flag. No white man, mulatto, 
or honest negro will be ever again countenanced by them. Their object is plunder, 
and they will grind the last dollar out of the taxpayer, white or colored, unless they 
are driven out. They trample the Constitution under foot by refusing to pass laws 
expressly commanded by that instrument. They pass thieving laws for, as their 
.Senators and Representatives boldly and shamelessly avow, the pickings and steal- 
ings. They elect corrupt judges to uphold their infamous legislation. They tax you 
without stint or mercy, and make you pay for their aggrandizement and your own 
ruin. And now Governor Chamberlain has attacked them in their stronghold, his 
battle-cry rings out clear and shrill on the air ; he leads the attack, and calls on every 
honest man in the State, without regard to party, to follow him. These thieves 
must be driven out, or the State and our civilization is lost. Is there a man in South 
Carolina, white or colored, who loves his old mother, to stand back at such a call and 
such a time ? Some newspapers, in and out of the .State, may speak cold words of 
approval, which have the sound of distrust ; but I tell you, when I read such senti- 
ments and such utterances as he has lately given forth, I feel every confidence in the 
man increased. No man who did not have a clear head, a brave heart, and an 
honest purpose could give expression to such lofty words of patriotism and of duty, 
I can well imagine, as the grand words flashed across the wires : "I will not com- 
mission these men." " I have risen above party, and will do my duty." " The 
civilization of the Puritan and the Cavalier, of the Roundhead and the Huguenot, is 
in peril. Courage, Determination, Union, Victory, must be our watchwords. The 
grim Puritans never quailed under threat or blow. Let their sons now imitate their 
example." How the electric spark kindled enthusiasm in every bosom and scattered 
every doubt of the integrity and courage of the man who uttered them ! At that very 
moment the garb of the carpet-bagger dropped from his shoulders ; he was received 
with affection as an adopted son into the family of the children of the Palmetto State, 
and his name was enrolled with Blanding, and Nott, and Duncan, and the hundreds 
of New-Englanders who have adorned her society and illustrated her history. And 
the name of Chamberlain will stand high on the roll, for his burning words will 
go down to posterity and make a shining page in history, as Pinckney's " Millions for 
defence, not a cent for tribute " ; or the old Dictator's " By God, I will cut my right 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 2 1 3 

hand off before I sign the order " ; or Patrick Henry's " Give me Liberty, or give me 
Death." I say, then, fellow-citizens, we must stand by him heart and hand. For 
God's sake listen to me now, and do not be deterred by the cry : ' ' You are advising 
us to violate the law," in driving out these thieves, who have been violating Constitu- 
tion, law, and virtue since 1S68. 

If we do not drive these brigands, this banditti, out at the next election, which we 
can do if we are united and work bravely, there is but one course left. Then we 
must go back to natural justice and form a committee of vigilance and safety from 
our best citizens, as they did in California, who will give them a fair trial and swift 
punishment. 

This is my counsel. It is the Centennial year. We must redeem the State at the 
next election or sign another Declaration of Independence, not against the Union, 
but against these thieves and usvupers. And unless you do this you are a disgrace to 
your ancestry ; you commit a crime against your posterity ; your mothers will weep 
that you were born, and your sisters blush that you live. 

Mr. Alfred Aldrich offered a series of resolutions, and prefaced 
them with this remarkable speech : 

A short time ago, in this house, I said, among other things, to the taxpayers, that 
I had "implicit confidence in the people of Barnwell County, but none in Governor 
Chamberlain." In the light of recent events, I desire to make the amende honorable 
to Governor Chamberlain, and here, with equal unreserve as when I made the decla- 
ration alluded to, I wish to submit the change in my opinion embodied in the 
following resolutions : 

Resolved, That Governor Chamberlain, from his Inaugural Address to his last veto, 
has carried out every pledge of the platform on which he was elected, and if he does 
not receive the support of the leading men of his own party, is entitled to the confi- 
dence and will receive the cordial sympathy and merited aid of the honest and good 
men in South Carolina. 

Resolved, That the Governor, having taken care of the Charleston and Sumter 
Circuits by refusing to commission Whipper and Moses, and not being able to reach 
Wiggins in the same way, we of the Barnwell Circuit must see that he do not defile the 
bench and debauch the county now adorned by the virtue and the learning of the 
incorruptible Maher. 

Resolved, That we recognize and appreciate the difficulties that the Governor has 
had to contend against to maintain his position as a political reformer ; that we ac- 
knowledge his probity in redeeming the pledges contained in the platform on which 
he was elected to office, and admire his boldness in resisting the pressure of those 
who were not in earnest when they made them ; that we are fully sensible of the 
opposition that he has encountered and the difiiculties that have environed him in 
acting his arduous role, and that we take this occasion to assure him and the men of 
his party who endorse him, of our cordial support. 

Two other series of resolutions were offered and adopted at 
this meeting, one series proposing a scheme for the reorganiza- 
tion of the Democratic party as the basis of opposition to the 



2 14 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIA" S 

corrupt clement of the Republican party, the other relating par- 
ticularly to the case of Wiggins, and embodying an additional 
expression of obligation to the Governor. 

Resolved, That we, the people of this section of the Second Circuit, not wishing to 
make an issue with any individual or party, and not being willing to risk our lives 
and property in the hands of the newly elected judge, P. L. Wiggins, for reasons ob- 
vious, do earnestly request the said P, L. Wiggins to tender his resignation to the 
Governor at once, and that the Governor do declare said office vacant, and that the 
said vacancy be filled by an election to take place before the close of the present 
session of the Legislature. 

Resolved, That a committee of two be appointed by the President of this meeting 
to communicate with Solicitor Wiggins, and to notify him of the action of this con- 
vention ; and that said committee be instructed to assure him that this convention is 
not prompted by any impure motives or personal animosity for him in taking this 
action, but alone for the interest of the country, and for the peace, harmony, and per- 
fect satisfaction of all parties, irrespective of race, color, or political differences. 

Resolved, That we heartily endorse Governor Chamberlain in his efforts to redeem 
the State from plunder and degradation, and while he has been faithful to his own 
party, he has also been faithful to ours, and we hereby pledge ourselves to stand by 
and support him promptly, faithfully, fearlessly, and defiantly. 

Similar meetings were held in all sections of the State. That 
in Spartanburg adopted the following resolution : 

That we cordially endorse the action of Governor Chamberlain in refusing to 
issue commissions as judges to W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, and pledge to him 
the full feupport of the community in his efforts to secure to the people of the State a 
faithful administration of the law. 

That in Camden, where Gen. James Chesnut, ex-Senator of 
the United States, presided. Col. W. M. Shannon presented the 
resolutions and Gen. J. B. Kershaw seconded them, made these 
declarations : 

Resolved, That we cordially endorse and approve the manly, patriotic, and states- 
manlike course of Governor Chamberlain, in this behalf, as also in his general admin- 
istration of his " great office." 

Resolved, That while we recognize in him a pronounced Republican, we perceive 
in his course a devotion to "good government, well administered" — the first and 
vital need of South Carolina, — and we join hands and hearts with him in "rising above 
party," and give him assurance of earnest and admiring support. 

That in Horry County adopted the following: 

That we accord to Governor Chamberlain our highest meed of thanks and praise 
for the part he has taken, and for his efforts to stay the tide of evil which threatens 
to engulf the State. 

In two or three instances, the reports of these meetings show 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 2 1 5 

signs of the disposition of the men who supported the unright- 
eous action of the Legislature. Thus at Kingstree, according to 
the report in the News and Courier, the following occurred after 
the reading of the resolutions : 

lust before the resolutions were put to the meeting, the question arose as to 
whether the Republicans would participate in the meeting. Swails [a member of the 
Legislature, a leader of the colored men] came in, and having said that he looked 
upon the meeting as Democratic, retired himself, and ever}' black man in the court- 
house followed him. 

The meeting at the courthouse in York County was nearly 
captured by the Governor's enemies. The report says: 

After the resolutions had been read, J. Hannibal White, colored. Senator from 
York, opposed the resolutions. He said he had voted for W. J. Whipper and F. J. 
Moses for judges in the late election, and was proud of it. In regard to Whipper, 
charges of corruption in the management of the sinking fund had been made against 
him, but he had never been tried for it. When he was tried and convicted it was 
time enough to denounce him. There were other men, he said, on the Commission 
besides Whipper, and the audience no doubt knew who they were without the speaker 
telling them. Whipper had defied these men to prosecute him. As to Whipper 
being a gambler, continued Senator White, that did not amount to much, as pretty 
much all the judges and lawyers he had met were gamblers. He was ready to en- 
dorse the Governor when he was right, and to oppose him when wrong. The Gov- 
ernor was not his master, and he would permit no man to lead or dictate to him. He 
v^^ould vote against the resolutions. 

At the conclusion of Senator White's remarks, the question of adopting the reso- 
lution as the voice of the county being put, the chair was not able to determine the 
result. A rising vote was then taken, and the resolutions were declared adopted, the 
whites, with one exception only, voting in the affirmative, and nine tenths of the 
colored people voting in the negative. 

Notwithstanding the determined expression of public senti- 
ment in these meetings, by the press of the State and of the coun- 
try, and by the thorough political organization that followed, 
both Whipper and Moses resolutely insisted that when the time 
came they would take their seats in spite of all opposition. This 
caused continued uneasiness and led to the following action 
of the Charleston Bar, from which but two or three members 

dissented : 

Charleston, April 25, 1876. 
Hon. J. P. Reed, Judge of the First Circuit : 

Dear Sir — We, the undersigned, members of the Charleston bar, believe it to 
be our professional duty to say to you that we regard the decision of Governor Cham- 
berlain, that your term of office had not expired when W. J. Whipper was elected, 
iind would not expire until four years from the date of your election, and that there 



2l6 



GO VEKNOR CHA MB EH LA IN ' S 



was therefore no vacancy to be filled by the Legislature, as the decision of a co- 
ordinate branch of the government, which we intend to uphold. 

We therefore earnestly request you to hold on to your office, and maintain your 
right to the whole term of four years from the day of your election, and pledge our- 
selves to sustain your claim in every way we can devise and you may require of us. . 

We further take occasion to say that we are fully determined not to recognize W. 
J. Whipper as Circuit Judge in this county, and will resist any attempt on his part to 
enforce his right to the office. 



Edward McCrady, 
R. W. Seymour, 
C. G. Memminger, 
Alex. H. Brown, 
Henry D. Lesesne, 
James B. Campbell, 
C. R. Brewster, 
W. D, Porter, 

A. G. Magrath, 
James Simons, 
William Whaley, 

B. C. Pressley, 
E. Magrath, 

W. G. DeSaussure, 
Thos. M. Hanckel, 
W. Alston Pringle, 
John E. Rivers, 
B. G. Whaley, 
Thos. Y. Simons, 
V. J. Tobias, 
H. Buist, 
James Conner, 
Ch. Richardson Miles, 
B. H. Rutledge, 
Chas. H. Simonton, 
M. P. O'Connor, 
G. W. Dingle, 



Very respectfully, 
S. Lord, Jr., 
Theodore G. Barker, 
Asher D. Cohen, 
Edward McCrady, Jr., 
H. E. Young, 
M. L. Wilkins, 
George R. Walker, 
G. L. Buist, 
Rudolph Siegling, 
Julian Mitchell, 
Charles Inglesby, 
J. N. Nathans, 
James Simons, Jr., 
Wm. J. Gayer, 
Robt. F. Touhey, 
W. James Whaley, 
Augustine T. Smythe, 
Isaac Hayne, 
D. T. Corbin, 
W. D. Clancy, 
Wm. IL Brawley, 
Robt. Chisolm, Jr., 
George D. Bryan, 
G. Herbert Sass, 
J. E. Burke, 
W. M. Muckenfuss, 
C. O. Trumbo, 



John F. Ficken, 

C. C. Pinckney, Jr., 
A. G. Magrath, Jr. 
W. M. Burns, 

W. St. Julian Jen^ey, 
Arthur Mazyck, 
Wm. P. DeSaussure, 
Joseph W. Barnwell, 
James P. Lesesne, 
John C. Miller, 
Charles Boyle, 
Charles S. Campbell, 
George S. Holmes, 
Louis de B. McCrady, 
Henry A. M. Smith, 
A. M. Huger, 
T. M. Mordecai, 
T. W. Bacot, 
William Seabrook, 
Henry A. DeSaussure, 
Charles E. Carrere, 
Alfred Hanckel, 
Francis L. McHugh, 

D. B. Gilliland, 
John C. Minott, 

T. Bachman Chisolm, 



Jennings W. Perr)\ 

The Orangeburg bar made a similar request. Judge Reed, in 
his response to the Charleston bar, set forth at length his opinion 
on the legal questions involved, and ended his letter with the 
following declaration : 

Entertaining these views, and sustained by the learning, ability, and patriotism of 
the bar of the First Circuit, and, as I conceive, with very rare exceptions, those of the 
whole State, I consent " to hold on to my office " for the full constitutional term of 
four years, and will be ready at all times to co-operate with you in such measures as 
may be deemed necessary to maintain my position and authority, and to preserve the 
independence, dignity, and integrity of the judicial office. 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 2 1 / 

Judge Shaw, of the third circuit, for which Moses had been 
chosen, gave similar assurances. But the commissions of these 
judges were written only for the unexpired terms of their prede- 
cessors, and to remedy this defect, the Governor determined to 
issue new commissions, as appears by the following official com- 
munication : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, May 25, 1876. 
Hon. H. E. Ifayne, Secretary of State : 

Dear Sir — On the nth day of December, 1874, Hon. J. P. Reed 
was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of this State for the First Judicial 
Circuit, and on the 12th day of February, 1875, Hon. J. A. Shaw was 
elected Judge of the same court for the Third Judicial Circuit, and com- 
missions were duly issued to the same persons in accordance with the 
certificates of the clerks of the two houses of the General Assembly for 
the unexpired terms of their predecessors in office. On the 21st day of 
December, 1875, I filed a statement of my reasons for refusing to issue 
commissions to W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, Jr., who claimed to 
have been elected on the i6th day of December, 1875, to the offices 
now held by Messrs. Reed and Shaw. I then announced my judgment, 
that Messrs. Whipper and Moses were not duly elected to said offices, 
and that the present incumbents, Messrs. Reed and Shaw, were entitled 
to hold for full terms of four years from their election. 

In accordance with that judgment, I now deem it my duty to issue 
commissions covering the full periods of four years from the dates of 
their elections, respectively, to Hon. J. P. Reed and Hon. A. J. Shaw,^ 
Judges of the Circuit Court for the First and Third Circuits, and I re- 
spectfully request you to prepare such commissions for my signature. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

Nevertheless, both Whipper and Moses, and especially the 
former," as the date (August 26th) approached when they claimed 
that they were entitled to assume office, threatened to possess 
themselves by force of the seats on the bench to which they as- 
pired. In view of such a contingency, the Governor issued a proc- 
lamation of warning, and at once took measures, by the appoint- 
ment of a special body of constables, upon whose fidelity he could 
depend, to prevent the accomplishment of this purpose. At the 
time of making this proclamation, other events, which will be 
brought into view in subsequent chapters,' had contributed to a 

' The Haml^urg massacre being one. 



2l8 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

condition of affairs that would have relieved a mere partisan of 
any sense of obligation to persist in antagonizing the ambition of 
men willing to be his allies, in behalf of those who were plotting 
his political downfall. But Governor Chamberlain was not swerved 
from the right line of public duty. This was the proclamation : 

Executive Chamber, 

Columbia, S. C. 

Whereas, the Honorable Jacob P. Reed, having been elected, was 
duly commissioned by me as Judge of the Circuit Court, for the First 
Circuit of this State, to hold the said office, according to the Constitu- 
tion of the said State, for the term of four years beginning on the 
eleventh day of December, a.d., 1874, and under his said commission 
has been, and still is, in the actual peaceable possession and in the 
exercise of the duties of the said office ; and. 

Whereas, satisfactory evidence has been brought before me that 
W. J. Whipper, who claims to be the Judge of the said Circuit, but 
who has neither any commission as Judge, nor has submitted the 
merits of his claim to the decision of any tribunal whatever, never- 
theless, is making preparation, and intends, to enter by force upon 
the exercise of the duties of the said office, and in that character 
to resist, and to encourage, persuade, and conspire with other per- 
sons to resist, by force, the lawful authority and orders of Judge 
Reed ; and. 

Whereas, a decent regard for the forms and principles adopted for 
the determination of conflicting claims to public offices requires that 
the claim of W. J. Whipper shall be submitted to, and be determined 
by, a competent legal tribunal, before any attempt is made by the said 
\V. J. Whipper to take possession of, or exercise the functions or duties 
of, the said office : 

Now, therefore, I, Daniel H. Chamberlain, Governor of the State 
of South Carolina, in performance of my duty to see that the laws of 
the State be faithfully executed, and, not only to repress vigorously 
and promptly all riotous and tumultuous disorder in the State, but 
also, by proper preparation and precaution, to prevent the same, do 
hereby proclaim that any such attempt as is hereinbefore stated, by 
W. J. Whipper, and those who may aid and abet him, will be regarded 
and treated by me, not only as an unlawful and riotous disturbance of 
the public peace, but also as an outrage upon judicial authority not to 
be tolerated in a civilized State. Such an attempt at the lawless and 
forcible usurpation of a judicial ofifice, — wrong in itself, as an attempt 
to oust a judge in possession without any previous test of his right, 
wrong in its influences, as an example of lawless disregard of well- 
established forms of law by one aspiring to the judicial ofifice, — is 
flagrantly and heinously wrong in its manifest tendency to create tu- 
multuous riot, or a bloody conflict, and to exhibit a contagious example 
■of disregard of law and right, and of violence, which will be likely to 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 2 1 9 

extend to other portions of the State now too greatly excited by passing 
events and issues. 

I do, therefore, forewarn all citizens of this State against aiding or 
abetting W. J. Whipper in his said unlawful attempt, and I call upon 
all the officers of the law in said Circuit to exert their official powers 
promptly and vigorously, in sustaining the authority and executing 
the orders of Judge Reed, and in putting down all attempts in any 
manner to interfere with his discharge of the duties of his office. 

I further call upon all citizens to frown upon and discountenance 
any and all attempts to usurp the authority of Judge Reed, and, when 
called upon, to assist in executing his orders ; and I further proclaim 
that, if the officers of the law in said Circuit shall fail to discharge 
their duties as hereinbefore laid down, I shall proceed, under the law 
of this State, to organize a sufficient force in the counties of Orange- 
burg and Charleston, under the command of the lawful deputy con- 
stables of those counties, under my own direction and control, to ex- 
ecute promptly and effectually such orders as may be issued by Judge 
Reed as Judge of the said Circuit, whenever such orders shall be re- 
sisted, and to arrest and commit all persons who may oppose or resist 
his authority, or who may, in contempt thereof, aid in the execution of 
any order which may be issued by W. J. Whipper, until his claim to be 
Judge of said Circuit shall have been established by some tribunal 
competent to pass final judgment thereon. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
great seal of the State to be attached, at Columbia, this 21st of August, 
A.D., 1876, and in the one hundred and first year of American Inde- 
pendence. 

By the Governor : 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

H. E. HAYNE, 

Secretary of State. 

The proclamation and the action taken to enforce it awed the 
conspirators, and no attempt was made to seize the coveted places. 
Thus the defeat of the infamous scheme sprung upon the State 
on " Black Thursday " was accomplished and sealed, and the 
*' horrible calamity " averted. " Persons lightly dipped, not 
grained, in generous honesty," says Sir Thomas Browne, " are 
but pale in goodness." A magistrate pale in goodness would 
hardly have undertaken what Governor Chamberlain successfully 
accomplished. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Influence of the Election of Whipper and Moses on the Politics of South Carolina — 
Revival and Reorganization of the Democratic Party — Views of Governor Cham- 
berlain and Dr. H. V. Redfield — The Political Situation in the State and the 
Country — Letter of Governor Chamberlain to President Grant Setting Forth 
the Nature of the Crisis — Letter of Governor Chamberlain to Senator Oliver P. 
Morton on the Partisan Aspects of the Issue Made — Senator Morton protests 
that He had been Misunderstood — Letter of Governor Chamberlain to Dr. H. B. 
Blackwell — Comments of Newspapers in Other States on the Situation in South 
Carolina — Hon. A. H. Stephens Corrects a Misrepresentation of His Opinion 
Concerning Affairs in South Carolina. 



TO complete the record of this dark crime of the Legislature, 
it is necessary to exhibit its immediate malign influence upon 
the morale and organization of the political parties. The corrup- 
tion which obtained a riotous brief triumph in the State-house 
at Columbia on the i6th of December, 1875, invited and prepared 
for the colored race the doom of exclusion for a long period from 
any controlling influence in public affairs. It was their Belshaz- 
zar's feast. 

No one apprehended the calamitous consequences more quickly 
than the Governor. In his first utterance for the public, three 
days after the mischief was done, he said : " I look upon their elec- 
tion as a horrible disaster — a disaster equally great to the State 
^' and to the Republican party. The gravest consequences of all 
kinds will follow. One immediate effect will obviously be the re- 
organization of the Democratic party within the State as the only 
means left, in the judgment of its members, for opposing a solid 
and reliable front to this terrible crevasse of misgovernment and 
public debauchery. I could have wished, as a Republican, to have 
kept ofT such an issue." 

Dr. H. V. Redfield, a very intelligent and fair-minded corre- 
spondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, who had made the South- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 22 1 

ern States a field of special personal investigation, wrote to that 
journal from South Carolina, when the event was fresh, as follows : 

A rumpus has begun in South Carolina which will end in the white people get- 
ting control of the State, as they now have control of Mississippi. The means to be 
adopted to overthrow negro rule in the Palmetto State may not be precisely the same 
as that which proved successful in Mississippi, but the result will be similar . 
Pick out two of the most notorious ward bummers in Cincinnati — men as ignorant of 
the science of law as a boy is of astronomy, men of no standing in the community, 
and no character save that of idleness, and elevate them to the bench in two of the 
most important Ohio circuits, Cincinnati and Cleveland, for instance. How would you 
feel about it ? . . . The whites are aroused ; the color line is drawn ; and before 
long you will hear of a " great Democratic victory " in South Carolina like unto that 
in Mississippi 

The Governor has refused to sign the commissions of Moses and Whipper upon 
merely technical grounds — something that he would not have thought of doing, as he 
says himself, had these judges-elect been decent men. But haw he is to carry out his 
point I fail to see. There seems no escape from Moses and Whipper on the bench 
but the complete overthrow of the so-called party which elected them. And that is 
what is coming. I say to the reader, and hope he will remember it hereafter, Look 
out for Democratic gains in South Carolina ! For a long time the whites have wanted 
a sufficient excuse to rise up and overthrow the African government under which they 
live ; and now they have it. Not a white Republican in the State, from the Governor 
down, nor a Republican journal, pretends to justify the election of these notorious 
men to the bench. 

The campaign in South Carolina next year will be very bitter, if not bloody. The 
whites will now draw the " color line," and at the same time throw all the blame 
upon the blacks. We know what the color line means. If any there are who don't 
comprehend the term, they can have light by spending a few days in Mississippi. 

The meetings that were held throughout the State to protest 
against the action of the Legislature and to sustain the action of 
the Governor, almost without exception, passed resolutions in 
favor of a thorough reorganization of the Democratic party, and 
appointed committees to effect it. While in some places, for 
example, Charleston, as already shown, the appeal was for an 
organization of all the friends of honest government, and not 
specifically for a reorganization of the Democratic party, in other 
places the latter course was considered the only safe reliance. 
This sentiment was clearly set forth in the resolutions adopted at 
the Barnwell meeting : 

Resolved, That in view of our repeated failures to reform the State Government by 
the policy of co-operation with the Conservative element of the Republican party, 
who professed the same object, and of recent events, we recognize the absolute and 



222 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

immediate necessity of reorganizing the Democratic party to restore an honest and 
economical government. 

Resolved, That the Democratic party of South Carolina will in the future, as it has 
in the past, support principles, not men, and we hereby extend a cordial invitation to 
all men in the State who desire honest government, to unite with us, at least until we 
have accomplished our purpose. 

Resolved, That the co-operation now invited is not with the bad men who have 
heretofore deluded, deceived, and betrayed our colored fellow-citizens, but with the 
great mass of that class who, we believe, are willing to rescue the State from the 
gras]) of these unprincipled adventurers. 

A call was promptly issued for a meeting of the State Execu- 
tive Committee of the Democratic party in Columbia on the 6th of 
January, and at the many mass-meetings held committees were 
appointed to co-operate in carrying into execution the plans that 
might then be resolved upon. Measures were also taken to per- 

1 feet the party organization in every township and county. In 
this movement there was, at the time, no indication of hos- 

/ tility to the Governor. It was believed that the course he had 
/ taken had made an irreparable breach in the Republican party, 
that the portion of the party which sided with him was a weak 
minority that would be overwhelmed in the first convention, that 
the element, led by Elliott, Whippcr, Moses, and their kind, would 
nominate the Republican candidates for the next election, and that 
the Governor would thus be forced, in obedience to his declared 
convictions, either to continue the combat for the salvation of the 
State as an independent candidate, or to give his support to a 
Democratic candidate^ In either case the reorganization of the 
Democratic party for earnest and cfificient service was deemed by 
its members a necessary condition of public safety. No well in- 
formed Democrat expected that the Governor would unite with 
their party. It was well known that, as to every other issue be- 
tween parties in South Carolina except this of honesty and econ- 
omy in the conduct of the State's business, and in regard to the 

; issues which divided the national parties, he was a Republican. 

' All the aid they could hope for from him was the aid of a Repub- 
lican who believed it to be the primary duty of all government 
and all parties to establish justice and public prosperity by hon- 
orable methods and without wrong or oppression, and who in 
fidelity to this motive did not hesitate to rebuke and oppose the 
infidelity of his political associates. 



ADMINISTRATION. 223 

While the spirit and the immediate aim of the majority of the 
Democratic party were such as have been indicated, there were 
ambitious leaders who had another purpose not yet plainly an- 
nounced, and who joined in the general tribute to Governor 
Chamberlain's great public service with a sinister motive. 
They affected gratitude and honor ; but they would have 
been better pleased if he had sinned with the rest. It ex- 
asperated them that any Republican should obtain credit for 
ability, wisdom, integrity, and honor, and they recognized in 
him the one man likely to be able to thwart their plot to over- 
throw the rule of the majority and seize by force and craft all the 
political honors of the State. Him alone they feared, as one hav- 
ing the sagacity to discover the unreality of their professed regard 
for the principle of equal rights, the power to cope with them in 
argument and organization, and the character to command respect 
for any report he might make to the people of the country of their 
machinations. They did not want South Carolina to be saved 
from misgovernment except by the Democratic party, and were 
incensed that he should have done any thing to deserve the praise 
of Democrats. By keeping his pledges with such fidelity, by 
bettering the promise in the performance, he had falsified their 
hopes built upon expectations of his failure.' The Anderson In- 
telligencer was almost the only newspaper which openly spoke the 
sentiments of this class. " His political course," it said, " has been 
outrageous in the past and deceptive in the present. Whenever 
any real reform has been accomplished by him it will be time to 
praise him. The mere prevention of Moses and Whipper taking 
their seats is something, to be sure, but he says he did it for the 
purpose of saving his party." Such expressions were then rare. 
Those who agreed with them were too discreet to talk much 
aloud. They preferred to be silent and to avail themselves of the 
opportunities which the reorganization of the Democratic party 
would afford, relying on their skill in political management to 
intensify party feeling and direct it to their advantage. 

The chief promoters of this policy were men whose ambition 

' By how much better than my word I am, 
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes. 

— Henry IV., Part i, I., ii., 234. 



o 



224 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

reached forward to participation in national politics. They were 
aspirants for seats in the national Congress and for the prizes that 
would follow the election of a President by the Democratic party. 
Belonging to the select circle of the South Carolina aristocracy, 
families which before the war had an acknowledged right to rule 
and represent the State, not so much because of their superior 
ability as because of their lineage and their wealth in land and 
negroes, they were impatient to resume their lordly sway. In 
their view, bred, as they had been, under the conditions and influ- 
ences of a system of caste as unrighteous, unrepublican, undemo- 
cratic, as any under the sun, no man who believed in the equality 
of rights of all men was safe or tolerable in a place of authority. 
Since they could not prevent it, they submitted to the new con- 
stitution of government which formally asserted the equal politi- 
cal rights and opportunities of all, irrespective of race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude; but they believed \n the superior 
and substantially exclusive right of their caste to govern the 
State, whether they constituted the majority or the minority of 
the people. Understanding completely the prejudices which two 
centuries of slavery had fostered in those whites who, although 
free, had never been of the privileged caste, they counted upon 
their instinctive allegiance in all contests with the party which 
promulgated the doctrine that any black man could achieve by 
education and character a just claim to political influence and au- 
thority. Latent as these forces were for the time being, they were 
not dead, and the ebullition of gratitude to Governor Chamber- 
lain on account of signal services, while it temporarily overflowed 
deep prejudices, did not wash them out. The brave slave that 
saved St. Michael's was gratefully emancipated ; but there was no 
conversion to the doctrine that a race able to produce brave men 
should be free. 

The election of a President of the United States, that was to 
occur the next fall, cast its shadow before and clouded the vision 
of partisans on both sides. Leaders of the Democratic party in 
other States were even more anxious than those in South Caro- 
lina that the party organization should be revived there in antici- 
pation of the national contest. More or less openly they depre- 
cated the admission that a Republican in office in the South could 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 2 2 5 

deserve the favor and confidence of Democrats, The more no- 
ble and admirable Governor Chamberlain's conduct, so long as he 
abided in the Republican party the greater the necessity that he 
should be abandoned and overthrown. The example of a conspic- 
uously wise and honorable Republican Governor in the South went 
far to nullif)' the force of the party argument that Republican ad- 
ministration, dependent upon the suffrages of the colored race, was 
inevitably oppressive, corrupt, and degrading. Throughout the 
North Democrats were hoping that by some means the minority 
in South Carolina would subjugate the majority, as had been done 
in other Southern States, notably in Mississippi, and secure the 
electoral votes of the State for their national candidates who 
would have small prospect of success without these votes. For 
this reason, the apparent willingness of South Carolina Democrats 
to honor Governor Chamberlain and sustain him, for the sake of 
good government at home, was not approved ; and there is reason 
to believe it was severely frowned upon by the intimate and am- 
bitious counsellors of the leading Democratic aspirants for the 
Presidency, who recognized that the support of a Republican for 
the Chief Magistracy of the State would make impossible such a 
campaign of intimidation of Republican voters there as would be 
necessary for preventing the unquestionable Republican majority, 
in a full and fair poll, from carrying the State. How much a 
hope that Governor Chamberlain, if circumstances should force 
him to oppose the nominee of his own party for Governor, — his 
own renomination seemed to be impossible, — might abjure the 
Republican party entirely, it is not necessary to conjecture. How 
little reason there was for such a hope will plainly appear. 

The approaching national election made the leading politicians 
of the Republican party also sensitive concerning the effect of Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain's action. Many of them had never relished 
his open and defiant hostility to a section of his party in South 
Carolina. These were the men whose intense partisanship led 
them to deprecate whatever disturbed the harmony and coherence 
of the party forces. In their view honest administration might be 
commendable, but the conservation of the power of the Repub- 
lican party and its continued domination in the nation were ob- 
jects to be first sought, and whatever imperilled these was offen- 



226 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

sive. Men whose eloquence flamed over the North, and with 
good reason, on account of the unjust methods resorted to by 
Southern Democrats to carry elections, were willing to condone 
the flagrant corruption and monstrous stealing which character- 
ized government by their allies in the Southern States. The 
partisan whose hopes of preferment depend upon party success, 
is apt to remodel the Scriptural injunction in its application to 
political duty, making it read " First successful, then pure." To 
whatever reforms may be accomplished without dividing the 
party, he may be induced to consent, but a virtue which cannot 
affiliate with, and make concessions to, rascals who are disposed 
to vote with " our side," seems to him incompatible with statesman- 
ship or patriotism, and an obvious disqualification for public office. 
Governor Chamberlain had committed what this class deemed 
the worst of faults in a politician. He had confessed the truth of 
the indictment brought by the Democratic party against the 
character of the Republican government in South Carolina and, 
in effect, against all the Republican State governments in the 
South. That he did it regretfully, not as one hopeless of better 
things, or recreant, but as a faithful physician who had discovered 
alarming progress of a desperate disease, the nature and peril of 
which must be made known to the victim in order to secure his 
necessary co-opei^ation in the restoration of health, was not appre- 
ciated by men whose ambition was focussed on the next election. 
It seemed to them that it was a party duty for every Republican 
to maintain, at least until after the next President was chosen, 
that the charges of incompetence and corruption made by Demo- 
crats against the Republican administrations in the South were 
the prejudiced and vindictive misrepresentations of men who 
were lately rebels. 

Moreover, the Republican party at this time was much dis- 
tracted regarding exposed misconduct elsewhere. The corrup- 
tion that thrived and festered in official quarters during General 
Grant's second term, — not with his connivance, but sheltered by 
his fame and popularit}', — had provoked a serious temper of re- 
volt. General Grant had declared his disinclination to accept an- 
other nomination, and Senators Morton and Conkling were seek- 
ing and obtaining support for themselves upon the ground that 



.4 DM INI S TRA TIOiV. 2 2 7 

his Administration had been wise and successful, especially in 
its Southern policy, and both these candidates were courting the 
support of the Southern Republicans by great zeal in arraigning 
the Southern Democrats for their misdeeds. The portion of the 
party which had sustained the Administration without criticism 
was inclined to one or the other of these senators, but Senator 
Morton was the best known by the colored race and most popular 
with the class designated " carpet-baggers." In the Northern 
States^ThF majority of those who, for any reason, were dissatis- 
fied with the recent conduct of affairs were inclined to support 
Mr. Blaine ; but the brilliant career of Mr. Bristow in the Treas- 
ury Department, particularly his thorough exposure of revenue 
frauds and persistent prosecution of the guilty without respect 
to their political or social influence, was making him the preferred 
leader of those who thought the time was ripe for a purification 
of the administration of government. The work which Governor 
Chamberlain was doing in South Carolina and that which Secre- 
tary Bristow was doing in his department of the national gov- 
ernment were similar in motive and aim, and both men were 
obnoxious to those who held that the duty of a true Republi- 
can is resolutely to shut his eyes and his ears to the wrongdoing 
of his own party and the rightdoing of the Democratic party. To 
this day the world is filled with politicians who have never com- 
prehended the policy of Jehovah's requirement that the Jews 
should be righteous ; and his way of permitting his party, when 
it sinned, to be defeated by idolaters, shocks all their notions 
of able practical management. 

Such, in brief, was the political situation when Governor Cham- 
berlain wrote the letters following. Primarily they were written 
for the enlightenment of the party leaders to whom they were 
addressed. They were not made public for several weeks, not 
until it appeared that a mistaken notion of his motives and aims 
was being covertly disseminated to his injury, if not with the con- 
sent and aid, certainly without the disapproval and correction, of 
those whom he had been at pains to inform. The letter to the 
President was first published in the Washington despatches to the 
New York Herald, April 4, 1876, with this comment : " South 
Carolina Republicans complain that it has neither reply nor atten- 



228 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

tion from the President, and tliat the Grant organs continue to 
abuse Governor ChambeHain and misrepresent his political aims." 
This letter, it will be observ^ed, was written very soon after the 
occurrences of " Black Thursday," with the sole purpose of fully 
acquainting the President with the reasons for the course its author 
had felt obliged to take. 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, January 4, 1876. 
To His Excellency the President : 

Sir — I am induced by recent extraordinary circumstances occurring 
in this State to address you by this communication, as the head, in 
a certain sense, of the Republican party. The General Assembly of this 
State on the i6th inst. elected W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, Jr., as 
Judges of the Circuit Court of this State, the former for the circuit 
embracing the city of Charleston and constituting by far the most im- 
portant circuit of the State in point of population, wealth, and business. 
The character of F. J. Moses, Jj\j,js laipwn_jLQ_4L'M^ '^^''d to the world. 
Unless the entirely universal opinion of all who are familiar with his 
career is mistaken, he is as infamous a character as ever in any age dis- 
graced and prostituted i)ublic position. The character of W. J. Whip- 
iper, according to my belief and the belief of all good men in this State, 
V%o far as I am informed, differs from that of Moses only in the extent to 
'I which opportunity has allowed him to exhibit it. The election of these 
two men to judicial offices sends a thrill of horror through the State. It 
compels men of all parties who respect decency, virtue, or civilization 
to utter their loudest protests against the outrage of their election. 
They have not even the poor qualification of such a degree of legal 
learning as to qualify them for the intelligent discharge of any judicial 
duty. The least of all the evils inflicted on the people of this State by 
their election is the fact that it compels all Republicans who love or 
honor the principles of their party to refuse to countenance or tolerate 
such representatives. 

I am a Republican, of just as many years' standing as I have seen 
years of discretion. 1 have been a strict party man, adhering to my 
party here in South Carolina through good report and evil report, never 
for once quitting its ranks amid the greatest discouragements arising 
from the bad conduct and suicidal policy of many of its most prom- 
inent members ; but the time has now come when no self-respecting 
Republican can tolerate the ascendancy of such men as, in this instance, 
have been forced upon us. For you or me, as Republicans, to coun- 
tenance the election of Moses and Whipper is as impossible as it would 
be for Governor Tilden, as a Democrat, to countenance the election of 
William M. Tweed and George G. Barnard to judicial positions in 
New York. I cannot and will not do it, be the consequences what they 
may politically. And yet I know there are men who will charge me 
in this crisis, as they have charged me hitherto, with treachery to the Re- 



A DMINIS TRA HON. 2 29 

publican party, because I cannot keep silent and still support a party- 
loaded down with such men. The newspaper in Washington which 
has sometimes been called your organ, doubtless erroneously, will , 
quite likely denounce me with renewed vigor for what simple self-f 
respect will compel me to do in view of this outrage. I tell you,i 
Mr. President, no act of mine, if I were the greatest living traitor' 
to my party, could be so fatal to that party as the election of Whipper 
and Moses has been and will be. I want above all things to save South 
Carolina for the Republican party in the coming Presidential struggle,; 
but I cannot save it, nobody can save it, if the party here or the party 
at Washington or in the North, do less than denounce this thing unspar- 
ingly, and join their efforts to those of the honest Republicans here in 
an effort to overthrow the power of such men as Whipper and Moses 
and their aiders and abettors. 

Our only salvation is in cutting loose from all contamination with 
these men and requiring all who are amenable to our influence to 
do the same. To try to save the seven electoral votes of South Caro- 
lina at the price of silence under this infliction will cost us, in my judg- 
ment, many times that number of votes elsewhere. We want your moral 
and political support in this struggle with political iniquity in its worst 
forms. It is as suicidal to give countenance to Whipper and Moses 
here as it would be to give countenance to the whiskey thieves in St. 
Louis. The party fealty of such men is disastrous to the party. I have 
written earnestly. I cannot do otherwise. Let no man convince you 
that I am any thing but a Republican until common decency compels 
me to be something else. Give us your countenance as you have given 
it, as I believe, in the past, and if we cannot save South Carolina to the 
party, we can prevent our party here from becoming a thousand-fold 
greater burden to the national Republican party than it has ever been 
before. We propose to declare war against this Whipper-Moses gang. 
We propose to ask the national Republican party to sustain us, and we 
know that you and all true Republicans will bid us God-speed when 
you know the depths of degradation to which these men are plunging 
us. This letter is, of course, addressed only to you, but you can make 
any use of it you see fit, and I remain your sincere friend and fellow 
Republican, D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

The follov^^ing letter, written to Senator Oliver P. Morton on 
the 13th of January, 1876, was given to the public by the New > 
York Herald oVi the 25th of February. The name of the person 
to whom it was addressed was withheld by the Herald, he being 
designated only as " a prominent Republican member of Con- 
gress " : 

To Hon. Oliver P. Morton : \ 

Dear Sir — I have to-day received a letter from a friend who has 1 
recently conversed with you, in which he writes : " Mr. Morton looks on 



230 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S' 

your (my) attitude as in practical identification with the Democrats, 
and already gives up the State (South Carolina) to the opposition." 

I am sure you would not willingly reach either of the above conclu- 
sions, and therefore I am forced to think that you are greatly misin- 
formed in regard to the posture of political affairs in this State. I am 
aware, too, that you are greatly and sincerely interested in the fortunes 
of Southern Republicans, and I therefore conclude that you will listen 
to statements which may be laid before you, though they may not agree 
with the conclusions which you have already reached. I beg your 
indulgence while, as briefly as possible, I give you my views of the 
situation here. 

Ex-Governor F. J. Moses, Jr., was my predecessor in office. Dur- 
ing his term of office the conduct of public affairs by him and his 
followers was such that a vast majority of the Republican party became 
convinced that a thorough reform, or the promise of it, was the only 
way in which the success of the party could be secured in 1874. For 
some reason I was selected as the candidate for Governor of those who 
held such views. I had been Attorney General of the State from 1868 
to 1872, and on account of my connection with public affairs here du- 
ring that period I was distrusted by many Republicans, and my nomina- 
tion was hotly contested, on the sole ground that I was not likely to 
carry out the promised reforms of our party. Upon my nomination, 
though I had pledged myself in every form to immediate and rigid 
reform, a bolt took place, embracing many of our best and most 
devoted Republicans, who refused to support me because I could not, 
in their judgment, be trusted to carry out practical reform. My elec- 
tion was fiercely contested by those Republicans on that ground alone, 
while my friends and I stoutly asserted, by our platform and speeches 
everywhere, that if I was elected thorough and complete reform should 
take place. I was elected by a majority of 11,000 votes, against a 
majority of 35,000 for Moses two years previous, and 40,000 for Scott 
four years previous, this reduced majority being solely due to the 
distrust of me and my supporters by a considerable wing of our party 
on the single issue of reform. 

I took my seat as Governor, December i, 1874, and I addressed 
myself earnestly to the work of keeping the pledges I had made and 
the pledges made for me by all my friends and by our platform in the 
campaign. I soon found that many of those who had supported me in 
the campaign and had talked reform did not want reform ; but I per- 
severed, determined, as a matter of right and of good policy, to adhere 
to my party platform and pledges. Of course those who disliked prac- 
tical reform cried out : " He is going over to the Democrats ! " " He 
wants social recognition from the rebels ! " and all the rest of those 
senseless cries such as you now hear about me. Still I persevered ; 
and when our Legislature met in November last there was apparent 
harmony between me and my party, and a complete acquiescence in 
the wisdom of the policy of reform as carried out by me. The result 
was that at that time the Democracy of this State was disarmed and 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 2 3 I 

had no hope, apparently, of even nominating a separate State ticket in 
opposition to the Republican party. Neither under the guise of " tax 
unions " or the " Conservative " party could they or did they maintain 
even an organization worthy the name. The leaders could not per- 
suade the masses of the white people that they could secure any better 
government than they were enjoying under my Administration. 

Now what had I done up to that time ? I challenge contradiction 
from any source when I solemnly affirm that I had done nothing ; not 
one thing which was not pledged by me on every stump in the State 
when I was a candidate ; nothing which our party platform did not de- 
mand ; nothing but what every man who now opposes me declared in 
that campaign to be indispensable ; nothing which you or any other 
honest Republican would not say was right and Republican. This is a 
broad statement, but I defy proof of any sort in contradiction of it in 
any particular. Suppose you talk with some one in Washington who is 
now denouncing me — and it certainly cannot be difficult, judging from 
what I hear, to find such. Ask him what Governor Chamberlain had 
done before these recent judicial elections, that indicated any infidelity 
to the Republican party ? Ask him if I had appointed Democrats to 
office ? If he tells you the truth, he will say no, for the fact is that 
never since 1868 were there so few Democrats in office in this State as 
since my Administration. I know whereof I affirm, and will prove it to 
you if you find it denied. Ask him further if I advocated or approved 
any measures of legislation which were iii any possible sense un-Repub- 
lican or opposed to the interests of the Republican party. He cannot 
name one, for there is not one. Ask him if I proclaimed any doctrines 
which were not held by the Republican party. He will not be able to 
point out one. Ask him if I ever in any way affiliated politically with 
the Democracy or had any thing to do with them politically, nearly or 
remotely. He will not be able to point out any such action or tendency 
of any kind or degree. What, then, is the matter with me ? Why was 
I disliked or denounced by some members of my own party ? Simply 
for this, I insisted on reasonable taxes, competent officers, honest ex- 
penditures, fair legislation, and no stealing, and the Democrats praised 
me for it. 

The last two things are my offence. I did not sanction schemes of 
public plunder — such as our "printing ring," for instance, but the cost 
of public printing per year was cut down from $180,000 to $50,000, 
and contingent funds from $80,000 to $27,000, and, I repeat, the Dem- 
ocrats praised me. 

Now, I make this offer : if any man will contradict a single state- 
ment of fact that I have thus far made, I will prove him a liar to your 
satisfaction. The extent of my guilt, for permitting the Democrats to 
praise me, I cannot precisely measure. Some men reason that I must 
be a traitor because Democrats praise me, but that will not quite do, I 
am sure, with you. Why should not the Democrats praise me ? Low 
taxes are popular, even with Democrats. Competent officers are pre- 
ferred to incompetent ones, even by South Carolina Democrats. Hon- 



232 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

est expenditures of public moneys are acceptable to Democrats even, 
and " no stealing " is almost everywhere a popular slogan, to say 
nothing about its being right. I never asked their praise. If there 
had been any thing to ask of them, I would have earnestly asked them 
not to praise me, because their praise would give pretext to the Wash- 
ington Republican and such sort of people to denounce me, as they are 
doing now, as fit only for the penitentiary. But they did praise me, 
they do praise me ; and I confess I don't see how I can help it. 

Seriously, sir, if I have told you the truth, ought I to be denounced 
by Republicans as a traitor ? Ought I to be considered by you as " in 
practical identification with the Democracy," because the taxpayers of 
South Carolina praise me for doing what every Republican who sup- 
ported me in the last campaign said I would do, and asked the people 
to vote for me because I would do ? Such was the condition of affairs 
here on the 15th day of last December. The Democracy of South 
Carolina was in perfect collapse. No State issues could have given 
them life or activity. It is doubtful whether national issues would 
have had force enough to have even induced a canvass of the State for 
the Democratic candidates in the coming Presidential campaign, under 
the circumstances then existing. 

On the 1 6th of December last the General Assembly, under influ- 
ences which it is impossible now to state fully, elected F. J. Moses, Jr., 
and W. J. Whipper as Judges of the Circuit Court of this State, the lat- 
ter for the circuit which embraces the city of Charleston, and consti- 
tutes the most important circuit of the State in point of population, 
wealth, and business. Are you aware who these men are ? Moses was 
my predecessor as Governor. Unless the universal belief among all 
classes of people in this State is mistaken, he is as infamous a character 
as ever in any age disgraced and prostituted public position. If there 
is anybody in Washington who shall happen to deny this, I will prove 
it to your abundant satisfaction. To mention nothing else out of the 
long roll of his offences, here is a specimen : Disappointed in not 
being renominated for Governor, he entered into a conspiracy with 
some of the leaders of the Democracy and independent Republicans to 
elect my opponent, and actually sold out the Commissioners of Elec- 
tion, of whom he had the sole apj^ointment, to my opponents, for $30,- 
000, of which $15,000 was paid to him in cash, and the rest made con- 
tingent on the election of my opponent. Of Whipper it can be said 
that he seems to have lacked only opportunity to prove himself the 
equal of Moses in infamy. Ignorant of law, ignorant of morals, a 
gambler by open practice, an embezzler of public funds, he is as unfit 
for judicial position as any man whom by any possibility you could 
name. Neither of these men has even the poor qualification which 
the infamous Democratic judges of New York had, of such a degree of 
legal knowledge as to qualify them for the intelligent discharge of any 
judicial duty. What has been the result ! Their election has sent a 
thrill of horror through the whole State. It has split the Republicans 
in twain : the moribund Democracv has awakened to new life and new 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 235 

hopes. No man who respects civilization and public decency can do 
less than denounce these elections without measure. No decent man 
can do less than oppose them, can do less than fight against those who 
elected them or who acquiesced in them. Do you expect us to do in 
South Carolina what you would sooner lose your right arm than do in 
Indiana ? Such a test indeed could never arise in Indiana, but it has 
arisen here, and you err wholly if you imagine that you, living here, 
would, for one moment, think of tolerating these elections. You could 
not do it, and you would spurn as an insult the suggestion of support- 
ing or acquiescing in them. 

Well, what I have said and done respecting these elections is 
known to you, I presume. I have done what you would have done — 
refused to sanction, aid, or abet the carrying out of this great crime 
against society, and again — worst of all crimes, apparently — the Dem- 
ocrats praise me. Now, in the light of what I have stated, and I am 
responsible to truth and to anybody who questions or is aggrieved 
thereby for what I have stated, what would you have me do ? At what 
points,' in what particular have I " identified myself practically with the 
Democracy ? " Is it treachery to the Republican party or " identifica- 
tion with the Democracy " to insist on decent men for judges of our 
courts ? There is not a man in South Carolina who would trust Moses 
with $10. Is it treachery to my party to refuse to tolerate his eleva- 
tion to the Bench, where he will have millions within the grasp 
of his thieving, bribed palm ? Is it " identification with the Democ- 
racy " to oppose such a man by every influence to the bitter end ? To 
doubt your answer is to doubt your moral perceptions. 

Now, sir, I have a word to say about what you are reputed to have 
said to the effect that " you already give up the State to the opposi- 
tion." That result rests very largely with you. You are influential, 
able ; you hold a commanding position, and you have a commanding 
voice in our party affairs. If South Carolina is to be " given up to the 
opposition," it is because you and others whom you can influence fail 
to help me and my friends " unload " — to use a current phrase — the 
infamy of these judicial elections. And here let me speak pldinly. To 
cry " Democrat " at me at this time is to support Moses and Whipper. 
I am a Republican of just as many years' standing as I have seen years 
of discretion. I have no tendency to any other party ; no association,. 
no sympathy with any other party. I want to see South Carolina re- 
main a Republican State, but I tell you no party can rule this State 
that supports Whipper and Moses, and to denounce us who are to-day 
denouncing the election of these men is to support them. It is in vain, 
sir, to say, as the National Republican is saying, that you have no sym- 
pathy with those elections, that they are almost " an unpardonable 
blunder," and with the next breath declare that I am " practically iden- 
tified with the Democracy." If I had done any thing but oppose bad 
government and especially to denounce and oppose these judicial elec- 
tions, let it be pointed out. But, until that is done, to denounce me 
and my friends here as traitors to the Republican party is to " practi- 



234 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

cally identify " yourself with Moses and Whipper. There is but one 
way to save the Republican party in South Carolina, and that way is, I 
repeat, to unload Moses and Whipper and all who go with them. It 
will be difficult to restore confidence in a party whose members were 
once capable of such an act as their election, but if our action is 
prompt and decided, if you and the Republicans at Washington will 
put your feet upon such things and stamp them out, we can yet make 
South Carolina and keep her as safely Republican as Vermont and 
Iowa. If this is not done we go down here as a party to hopeless and 
deserved defeat and infamy. Neither the Administration at Washing- 
ton, with all its appliances, civil and military, nor all the denunciations 
of the world heaped upon me, can save the Republican party here from 
overwhelming defeat during this year, unless we can persuade the people 
of this State that such things as these judicial elections will be undone 
and never by possibility be repeated. 

I have written very earnestly, but with a spirit of perfect respect for 
you, and of great admiration for your a.bilities and your devotion to 
the Republican party. I could not forbear from making known to you 
my views, and especially from stating to you the facts as they exist here 
in South Carolina. I do not care so much to vindicate myself as to give 
you a correct idea of the situation here, and the necessity of sustaining 
those who are fighting against the suicide of the Republican party — 
now nearly committed in South Carolina. 

Make any use you see fit of this letter. Place me wherever you see 
fit after you have read it ; but, I beseech you, help to save the Repub- 
lican party here in the only way it can be saved — by a firm, uncom- 
promising and instant denunciation of all such acts as those recent 
elections, and by sustaining those who, at great cost to themselves, are 
now trying to stay the mad waves of destruction put in motion by those 
who find little else to do in such an emergency except to denounce me 
as a " Democrat." 

Yours respectfullv, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Although Senator Morton had not taken the trouble to notify 
Governor Chamberlain that he had been misinformed, or to give 
him any assurance of sympathy, he made haste to avoid the force 
of the storm of disapprobation which the publication of this letter 
aroused against party leaders, who, for the sake of conciliating 
the corrupt elements of the part\- in the South, were aspersing 
Governor Chamberlain's party loyalty. It was quickly suspected, . 
and soon known, to whom the letter was addressed, and the fol- 
lowing despatch from Washington appeared in the New York 
Herald of February 27th : 

The letter from Governor Chamberlain to a prominent Republican, which was 
printed in Tuesday's Herald, was addressed to Senator Morton, who had been 



ADMINISTRATION. 235 

-wrongly reported as having expressed opinions derogatory to the Governor. Senator 
Morton does not profess to be sufficiently familiar with South Carolina affairs to 
entertain definite opinions upon them, and he does not, of course, mean to take or 
be put in the absurd position that he would support corrupt men, such as Governor 
Chamberlain describes in his letter. The publication of the letter without his name, 
in the Herald, left Mr. Morton unconnected with it ; but since then and in other 
journals his name has been connected with it, and this makes the statement proper 
that Mr. Morton did not know that the letter was to be published, and that the copy 
of it sent to the ZTi^ra/i^ was obtained from another quarter. The conversation re- 
ported to Governor Chamberlain, and on which he bases his letter, was a casual 
private conversation, which was reported without Senator Morton's knowledge and 
authority, and seems, he says, to have been imperfectly understood. The Chamber- 
lain letter gets a good deal of attention here, especially since it is found that the 
western Republican journals notice it and him with approval, and demand that he 
shall be supported by the Administration, so far as it can, in this contest with the 
corruptionists. 

The following letter, written to Dr. H. B. Blackwell, the well- 
known advocate of woman suffrage, was published in the Woman s 
Journal, February 19, 1876, with this introduction : " The follow- 
ing interesting letter from our faithful friend, Hon. D. H. Cham- 
berlain, of South Carolina, was not written for publication, but is 
so largely of interest to all suffragists that we feel justified in 
making it public " : 

Dear Mr. Blackwell — Your letter of August 26, 1875, was duly 
received and fully considered. At that time, and for a long time after- 
wards, I hoped to be able to make a strong effort towards testing the 
plan sketched by you in our Legislature. The great and constant 
pressure of duties less remote than this one in their immediate nature 
kept me from replying at length before the assembling of the Legislature. 

You know^ the rest. Disasters greater than you can conceive of 
in good old New England — wrongs which literally " stir a fever in the 
blood of age," and which, m Massachusetts, would, I firmly believe, 
excite violence and mob law — have fallen upon us. I have not an 
hour's time to look away froin this fearful fight for civilization. I wish 
I could, for my heart goes out more than ever towards all good men 
and women engaged in any good cause. But my hands are more than 
full now, and I only write this word that you may know again of my 
unabated interest in your cause, and why I cannot help you at the 
present moment. •; 

The most astounding views of our present struggle here seem to 
have possession of some minds at the North. Thus : I have just 
received a letter saying that Governor Claflin, like Senator Morton, 
fears I am straying from the party fold. Ah, if I were not too good a 
party man, such criticisms would make me quit the party forever. 
And I say now that no " party," however sacred its past, shall ever 



236 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

bind me to the work of helping to put over any people anywhere on 
earth, as Judges, men whom I know to be thieves, gamblers, and igno- 
ramuses. I take no more counsel of consequences in such a crisis 
than I would if my wife's honor was at stake. 

But I must not burden you Avith these things. Please give my warm 
regards to your wife, and believe me 

Yours very truly, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

It would be easy to fill the remaining pages of this volume 
with extracts from the press of the country in commendation of 
the Governor's prompt action in the exigency presented by the 
election of Whipper and Moses, and of his subsequent course in 
the matter. The only discordant voice among Republican news- 
papers was that of the National Republican in Washington, which 
affected to be, and, unfortunately for the Republican party, was 
regarded as, in some degree, the organ of the President's opinion. 
The public sentiment in South Carolina has already been clearly 
exhibited ; and a few brief extracts from leading journals in other 
States will sufficiently indicate the accord that existed. The 
future historian will find by an examination of the current news- 
paper files abundant amplification and confirmation of the judg- 
ment here given : 

Many eloquent speeches were made at the banquets in various cities on Friday 
night, but to our thinking the most eloquent by long odds was that despatch of a 
dozen lines sent by telegraph from Columl:)ia to Charleston by the Governor of South 
Carolina : " If there ever was an hour when the spirit of the Puritans — the spirit of 
undying, unconquerable enmity and defiance to wrong — ought to animate their sons, 
it is in this hour here in South Carolina." That was spoken like a son of Massachu- 
setts filled with the grand courage of her early days. Unless we underrate the 
magnanimity of the descendants of the Huguenots in South Carolina, they will stand 
by this descendant of the Puritans, who, by force of circumstances, is fighting their 
battle against the deluded and enraged hosts of ignorance. To all appearance this 
is the crisis of affairs in that State, and whether honor and righteousness triumph 
depends for the time on the courage of one man who, in allegiance to his convictions 
of the supreme importance in a republic of an upright judiciary, has defied the organ- 
ized corruption of the State. There is not at the present moment in the whole 
country a more splendid exhibition of Puritan character. — Boston A dveftiscr (Kep.). 



There is to us something profoundly melancholy in that despatch of his in which 
he calls for a fresh display on the part of the New Englanders in South Carolina of 
the old Puritan " spirit of undying, unconquerable enmity and defiance to wrong " at 
this crisis in the history of the State. The old Puritans showed their mettle and 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 23/ 

formed their character in conflicts with what was highest and mightiest and most 
respectable in the civilization of their day. They contended on flood and field with 
*' gallant men and cavaliers," with kings and priests and nobles, with the strongest 
faiths, the oldest prejudices, the loftiest pride, and the most revered customs the 
world had to show, and with a fortitude and heroism worthy in all ways of men who 
sought to establish the kingdom of God on earth. But the tracking of criminals, the 
work of bringing thieves and pickpockets and highwaymen to the gallows and the 
cart's-tail, the defence of the public treasury against forgers, and the exclusion of 
defaulters and embezzlers from the judicial bench, they never dreamed of as any 
part of their mission. When a man of Governor Chamberlain's standing has to ap- 
peal for the execution of tasks of this kind to the spirit which brought Bradford and 
Winthrop and Endicott over the sea, and closed the ranks behind Cromwell at 
Naseby, it must be confessed we have fallen on evil days. And yet the days are not 
so evil as they seem. American civilization may be threatened by many perils, but 
assuredly it is in no danger of being overthrown by jail-birds, and, bad as the condi- 
tion of some parts of the South may seem, four years of a pure, high-toned, energetic, 
and conscientious Administration in Washington, with its face set like flint against 
peculation and corruption, with neither quarter nor protection for adventurers, job- 
bers, and intriguers, with cordial social and political relations with the best portion 
of American society — ^best, we mean, in regard to morality and intelligence, — would 
break up the corrupt elements in Southern politics without any difficulty, and if it 
did not turn the steps of the negro voters into the paths of honesty and economy, 
would at least fill them with the respect for character and ability through which, if 
the South is to be saved, its salvation must come. — N. Y. Nation (Ind.). 



South Carolina is one of the two Southern States left to the Republicans, and, as 
a party they cannot evade the responsibility of the situation. If the corrupt and dan- 
gerous element controls the party there, if a Republican Legislature elects such a man 
as the country knows Moses to be, and such as Whipper is represented to be, the 
whole party must take the consequences. Even if the alternative be the restoration 
of the ex-rebel and negro-hating Democracy, honest men, however regretfully, must 
admit that such a result is preferable to the election of venal and unjust judges and 
a system of legislation which is virtual confiscation and robbery. It is in vain for 
some Republicans to declaim about negro outrages in Mississippi if other Republi- 
cans make Moses and Whipper judges in South Carolina without a Republican pro- 
test. The voice of the Republican press of the country should unite in such a chorus 
of condemnation of this act of the Legislature of South Carolina that that body and 
its abettors in such acts may know how the party abhors and repudiates its conduct. 
Here is an " outrage " which the simplest can understand, and which strikes at the 
root of civil society. — Harper's Weekly (Rep.). 



The policy of Governor Chamberlain in South Carolina, so far as we are able to 
judge of it, is one which promises the possibility of a new state of things for the 
South. He has resolved to defeat misrule in the Republican party without ceas- 
ing to be a Republican. He has taken issue with the most powerful of the 
Republican managers, who at the same time include the most unprincipled. 
He has selected his position well, and it is so strong that it ought to be impreg- 



238 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

nable. The Governor's work is to begin in South CaroHna the reorganization 
of the Republication party of the South in such a manner as to cast out its bad 
men, who are sources of incalculable weakness ; to retain all its present elements of 
enduring strength, and to attract to its ranks the progressive white voters of the sec- 
tion. The first blow has been well aimed. Whipper and Moses were not only bad 
men, but they were bad leaders, and conspicuous as such, and it was sought to place 
them where they could do more harm than in any other posts which, by any possi- 
bility, they could attain. . . . Governor Chamberlain has undertaken a task which 
honest and able Republicans in every State south of Virginia must prepare to under- 
take in their respective fields. The Republican party in the South, if it hopes to 
regain any of its former strength must be made a new party, as loyal as ever to the 
general ideas of the Republican national organization, but with more honest leaders, 
and with a State policy that will secure recruits from the native whites. Acute 
observers believe that such a reorganization is possible. We have no doubt of it. 
The old organization is badly shaken. It cannot count on a single Southern State 
with certainty. Nor can the means by which the power now lost was formerly ob- 
tained and kept be again employed. Nothing but a course suited to the times, hav- 
ing for its object the union of portions of both races for the promotion of the progress 
of the respective States can again give the Republican party the upper hand. — N. V. 
Times (Rep.). 



Governor Chamberlain has refused to commission these amazing judges. It is a 
bold thing to do, and we await with some anxiety the results. Meantime it is evident 
that this cannot be a lasting remedy. There is but one way of escape. The party 
which is responsible for the existing condition must do something for its cure, or at 
least its alleviation. The Democratic party was responsible for Tweed and his 
gang so long as it held them up and allowed them to carry on their robberies under 
its name. It flung them ofT, late, but at last, and they ceased to be dangerous. The 
oppressors of South Carolina are of the Republican party. In its name they have 
carried on their robberies. A Republican Administration has recognized them in the 
distribution of ofifices. Republican conventions have admitted them to their counsels. 
Republican newspapers have defended them. Republican leaders have affiliated 
with them and felt no shame. This has been one of the strongholds of the mana- 
ging scamps upon the ignorant negroes, that thty were all good Republicans. And 
the sign of Republicanism is the holding of a government office. The Administra- 
tion can shake these fellows off if it will. Moses and Whipper and their kind 
would be hamstrung almost as completely by being stripped of their Republi- 
can name as were Tweed and his fellows when the Democracy disowned them. 
And would it not be better for the party, for the country, for right and justice, to say 
nothing of the benefit to the people of South Carolina, if a few leaders like Senator 
Morton should leave off for a little their unusual efforts to discover cases where negroes 
have been hindered from voting, and briefly consider the condition of the State in 
which they are having their own will and way ? — N". Y. Tribune (Rep.). 



Governor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, has again struck a vigorous blow for 
reform. The Legislature of that State lately elected some notorious scamps as Cir- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 239 

cuit Judges — Whipper and ex-Governor Moses among them. The Governor has re- 
fused to issue commissions to these two, basing his refusal on some legal technicality. 
It is hoped that this will save the State judiciary from the utter degradation prepared 
for it by the Legislature. The corrupt judges were elected by a combination of all 
the bad elements in the State. We rejoice that Governor Chamberlain has done all 
in his power to prevent the consummation of the bargain. He deserves credit for 
standing so well by his recent record of honesty and intelligence. — Chicago Tribune 
(Rep.). 



This action on the part of Chamberlain is promising, as it gives some hope that 
South Carolina, the stronghold of the black and white carpet-baggers, will yet be 
blessed with an honest government. The character of these men, Whipper and 
Moses, is despicable beyond expression. It is encouraging to know that Governor 
Chamberlain has determined to abate their recent triumph and free the judiciary from 
such disgrace. — Lotcisville Courier-Joio-nal (Dera.). 



The whole proceeding was a disgrace to the State and degrading to the judiciary, 
and will justly react against the dominant party. Such proceedings have a tendency 
to make the people feel less indignant at such frauds as those by which the white peo- 
ple of Mississippi obtained control of the State. If the Senate sees fit to investigate 
the Mississippi election, it should not overlook the judicial election in South Caro- 
lina. — Hartford Courant (Rep.). 



For the escape, if it is an escape, for the reprieve, if it is only a reprieve, South 
Carolina is indebted to her Yankee Governor. We are glad to see that the represent- 
ative Conservative papers recognize the debt, and the obligation of standing by him 
loyally and effectively in the coming campaigns against the public enemy. He has 
gone too far to turn back, even if he had the faintest desire to do so, and they could 
not ask, as they certainly cannot find, an abler leader. — Springjield Republican {Ind.). 



At the annual dinner of the New England Society of Charleston, S. C, a telegram 
from Governor Chamberlain " was read at midnight amid the wildest enthusiasm.' 
It contained this passage : "If ever there was an hour when the spirit of the 
Puritans — the spirit of undying, unconquerable enmity and defiance to wrong — ought 
to animate their sons, it is this hour, here in South Carolina." These earnest words 
were what might have been expected from a brave and determined chief magistrate 
engaged in a sharp conflict with a corrupt Legislature, whose choice of incompetent 
and unprincipled judges he had just boldly hindered. Deaf to the entreaties of timid 
friends, and undismayed by the bullying of influential partisans, he took the highest 
ground, resolved to have no master but righteousness, and no leader but the truth. 
If such a course injures a party, it must be because the party is rotten, and 
not because the course is wrong ; and Governor Chamberlain was wise in availing 
himself of the best New England traditions in his eloquent appeal for sympathy and 
help in the battle with iniquity. — Christian Register (Boston, Mass.). 



Certainly the gratitude of the State of South Carolina is now due to her Governor, 
the Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, for his last manly stand upon the side of intelligence 



240 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

and virtue. In refusing to sign the commissions that would elevate Moses and Whip- 
per to the judges' bench, he has probably saved that State from a future of misery 
and shame that no pen can describe. It requires considerable fortitude for a man to 
act in opposition to the majority of the party that elected him, but if in choosing 
Chamberlain as their Chief Executive they expected to make him a tool with which to 
rob and plunder the State, they were mistaken in the man, and by his wise and patri- 
otic course he is fast gaining the admiration and esteem of the law-abiding and 
liberty-loving throughout the Union. — Charlotte (N. C.) Observer (Dem.). 



The letter [to Senator Morton] of Governor Chamberlain of South Carolina, 
printed in yesterday's Gazette, is a manly, straightforward, and able document, and 
throws considerable light upon the difficulties the Republican party has had to con- 
tend with in the Southern States. Those States, most of them, have been lost to the 
party because rascals were elevated to office and thieves were suffered to plunder the 
people. The crimes committed honorable men were not able to defend, and to the 
indictments presented by Southern Democrats, those who were informed and had 
a regard for truth, were forced to plead guilty. As a consequence, nearly all of the 
Southern States are now in the hands of the Democratic party. South Carolina was 
moving steadily in the same direction until Governor Chamberlain was elected. He 
stepped in between the people and the thieves, and has manfully stood his ground. 
On this account many of his own party turned against him, and are now charging that 
he has left the Republican party ; but he says he has not, and we say that his course is 
the only one to preserve the South, or the North either. ... If South Carolina 
cannot be saved to the Republican party by the course of Governor Chamberlain, it is 
not worth saving and had better be lost. That officer, therefore, deserves the thanks 
and moral support of the Republicans of the whole country, and it is only to be 
regretted that other Southern States have not men of equal ability and integrity to 
take the lead and guide the party to victory. — Cincinnati Gazette (Rep.). 



The unique position of the National Republican has already 
been mentioned. Its temper is illustrated in the following 
sentences : 

Governor Chamberlain has been inveigled into a path of political turpitude, which 
must eventually end in his personal political destruction. By a shrewd and carefully 
prepared scheme the Democracy have succeeded in making him a pseudo-apostate 
from his party constituency, and securing his gubernatorial influence to further their 
efforts in overthrowing the Republican power in the State. 

The spirit of the Democratic papers, which were chiefly con- 
cerned, not for good government in South Carolina, but for party 
success there and in the nation, is shown by the following extracts, 
in which it is noticeable that the example of Mississippi, where, 
by a deliberately planned system of criminal terrorization, involv- 
ing every brutal crime against persons and rights, supplemented 
by monstrous frauds in elections, the minority had obtained con- 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 24 1 

trol of the State Government, is recommended to South Carolina. 
Governor Chamberlain stood for just administration in its broad- 
est application, and the equal rights of all citizens without dis- 
tinction of race or party. These cared only for securing the 
power of their party and caste, and did not hesitate to abuse, and 
to counsel abusing, law, rights, and humanity, in order to attain 
their end. The New York World indulged in appeals, of which 
this specimen will sufifice : 

Are the honest people of South Carolina less desirous of reform than were their 
brethren of Mississippi ? Is the necessity for revolution less urgent ? Are they less 
courageous and devoted ? If not, let them, by a similar course, achieve the same 
success. South Carolina dwells fondly upon the heroism of her sons during the 
Revolution of a century ago, and proposes to invite all who honor courage and patri- 
otism to meet with her people at historic Moultrie. A better Centennial celebration 
than this will be the redemption of the State. The tyranny against which the free- 
born men of South Carolina rose in 1776 was far less oppressive, far less disgraceful, 
than that under which their descendants groan to-day. 

Some Southern Democratic journals reiterated, and in less 

covert terms, the same advice. 

In the emancipation of Mississippi from the dominion of corniption and barbarism 
the people of South Carolina have an exemplification of what can be accomplished 
by united, uncompromising, and determined effort. Let them then take courage, and 
casting aside all ideas of [an] unnatural, impossible alliance of intelligence and virtue 
with ignorance and villainy, let them resolve to protect themselves from threatened 
oppression, degradation, and confiscation. In the struggle that has been forced upon 
them they will have the sympathy and encouragement of true men of all parties and 
all sections of the Union. In such a struggle they will be sure to triumph. — Savannah 
(Ga.) Neivs. 



What has happened in Mississippi is inevitable in South Carolina. The whites 
must, by combination and enormous sacrifices of time and money in controlling 
this depraved suffrage, achieve for themselves a government under which honest 
industry can live, or they must abandon the State to African savagery, heathenism, 
and squalor. There is no use in disguising these plain facts. They are bound to be 
recognized and acknowledged as facts all over the American continent. Whether 
it will or no, Radicalism, in the enforcement of suffrage on the negro, is bound to 
stand convicted of high treason against good government and republican liberty. 
The fatal effects can be delayed or averted only by a management and address which 
shall overweigh the majority of voters against their own bias and in favor of a gov- 
ernment which shall protect honest industry and civilization. That is Republicanism 
with a vengeance ; but it is the only condition and price of rescue from barbarism, 
and the salvation of the Anglo-Saxon existence in these States. All parties in South 
Carolina now see it. They have exhausted every other means to enlist the blacks in 
favor of public decency, honesty, and fair government, and met with total defeat at 



242 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

every turn. Now they have probably got to buy immunity from the black voters. 
They can do it cheaper from the original source of power than from its represent- 
atives. These last having the levying and appropriation of taxes, in the payment of 
which they are totally uninterested, can pay themselves as much as they choose to 
vote. But the ordinary black voter in South Carolina must be content with what i 
offered him. The bribe must be forthcoming either at one end or the other, 
and economy and security demand the earlier application. — Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. 



The prime peril of South Carolinians at this moment, is being deceived by a trumpery 
show of brave words from the Governor and his organs, and so lulled into a security 
which may be at once false and deadly. It is certainly about time that some native 
of .South Carolina, zuho has not bowed the knee to Baal, should come to the front and 
rally his people to such an effort as that of Mississippi. The civilization of the 
Carolinas, in ante-bellum days, produced great men. Since the irruption of Chamber- 
lain and A/j civilization, the fecundating power of the stock seems to have suspended 
operations. — Augusta (Ga.) Constitutionalist. 



To this slur the Charleston Nezvs and Courier replied : 

The Augusta Constitutionalist does not advance the interests of the South Carolina 
Democracy by such words : . . . Governor Chamberlain has, by his acts, proved 
his sincerity as a reformer, and the Democracy of the State will stand by him and 
protect him, because he has proved his sincerity. Nobody asks Governor Chamberlain 
to leave his party or abandon his party principles ; and in any other paper than the 
Constitutionalist it would be disgusting, as well as surprising, to set down one of the 
boldest executive acts of the decade as " a trumpery show of brave words." There is 
no false security in South Carolina, and the press of this State, in praising Governor 
Chamberlain, are the " organs " of the people, not of a man or a party. 



Hon. Alex. H. Stephens, of Georgia, was a visitor to Columbia 
in the spring of 1876. After his departure a letter appeared in a 
North Carolina paper, the Charlotte Observer, professing to re- 
port a long conversation with Mr. Stephens, in which he was 
represented as denouncing Governor Chamberlain as a " carpet- 
bag,gcr," to whom it was a disgrace for the people of the State to 
submit. This report was so widely at variance with the senti- 
ments he had expressed to the Governor and to others, that the 
editor of the Union-Herald 3.dd\-QS?>ed a letter to Mr. Stephens, in- 
quiring whether he had been correctly reported. Mr. Stephens 
responded promptly and earnestly, saying : 

The whole of this pretended report' of a conversation with me is an entire fabri- 
cation from beginning to end. I never had any such conversation with anybody in 
Columbia or elsewhere. I uttered no opinion or sentiment about Governor Chamber- 
lain while in Columbia or on my way home, except such as was expressive of gratiti- 



ADMINISTRA I ION. 



243 



cation at the general satisfaction which his Administration seemed to be giving 
throughout the State — even to many intelligent citizens I had met with who had not 
favored his election. Of the merits or demerits of his official acts, however, I ex- 
pressed no opinion of my own, for I was not sufficiently informed as to the facts to 
have any opinion upon the subject. I was nevertheless gratified to see those whose 
interests and welfare were most deeply affected so generally satisfied at his course. 
This feeling of gratification on my part I repeatedly expressed, but not a word of dis- 
paragement of Governor Chamberlain. 

Unquestionably the purpose of' the misrepresentation of the 
sentiments of this distinguished and influential Southern Demo- 
crat was to assist the efforts of those Democrats in South Caro- 
lina who were plotting for a partisan campaign, and fomenting 
hostility against the man whose fidelity in duty and courage in 
every exigency were commending him too much to the gratitude 
and confidence of voters whose suffrages they desired to com- 
mand. 




p:;;''j^ 




CHAPTER XV. 



The Work of Keforming Legislation and Administration Vigorously Prosecuted — 
Letter of the Governor to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Urging 
the Necessity of Economy in Appropriations — Address of the Governor to the 
Committee of Ways and Means, Setting Forth Specifically the Items of Re- 
trenchment Practicable, Making in the Aggregate a Reduction of Nearly $270,- 
000 from the Appropriations of the Previous Year — His Suggestions All Adopted 
— A Great W^eek's Work — Removal from Office of Thomas S. Cavender, under 
Suspicion of Corruption — The Governor's Course with Reference to Pardons ; 
Examples of His Practice — Presumptuous Exercise of Executive Authority by the 
Lieutenant Governor. 



THE election of judges so overshadowed all other proceed- 
ings during this session of the Legislature that they 
attracted comparatively little attention. In the whirlwind and 
tumult following that event the members of the Legislature were 
dizzied, and they recognized that so far as their political futures 
were concerned, little depended on what they might' do in addi- 
tion to what they had done. Almost the only important business 
transacted having special significance in illustration of Governor 
Chamberlain's policy in administration related to appropriations 
and taxation. The fact that the veto of the supply bill of the 
last session was unanimously sustained has been stated. Much 
as the Governor was engrossed with the affair of the judges and 
its consec^uential incidents, he relaxed in no particular his per- 
sonal attention and labors in the work of reforming the long- 
standing evils of legislation and administration. In the task of 
securing the passage of a fair tax bill and an economical appro- 
priation bill he exerted himself especially, and on the 27th of 
January addressed the following letter to the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives: 

244 



ADMINISTRA TION. 245 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, January 27, 1876. 

Hon. R. B. Elliott.^ Speaker House of Representatives : 

Sir — A copy of the annual appropriation bill, as reported by the 
Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, has been 
laid before me for my consideration. It is suggestive of some consid- 
erations, which my sense of official duty leads me to present at once to 
the General Assembly. 

Two striking facts appear from an examination of the first and 
second sections of the bill : First. That the appropriations made by 
the first section reach an aggregate amount of $190,800, while the tax 
levied by the supply act to meet these appropriations will produce not 
more than $130,000, leaving a deficiency of $60,800. Second. That 
the appropriations made by the second section reach an aggregate 
amount of $179,200, while the tax levied by the supply act to meet 
those appropriations will produce not more than $130,000, leaving a 
deficiency of $49,200. These two items of deficiency amount to 
$110,000. 

It was foreseen when the supply act was matured, and passed early 
in the present session, that the reduction of the levies, so as to bring 
the entire amount to its present limit, would inevitably leave a defi- 
ciency, a result which I then greatly deplored, but which seemed 
necessary in the present impoverished condition of the people of the 
State. 

An effort was made at the last session of the General Assembly to 
reduce the salaries of public officers, which resulted in the passage by 
the House of Representatives of a bill which would, in my judgment, 
have accomplished good results. That bill has been before the Senate 
during the present session, and has not yet been disposed of. That bill, 
or a bill which shall reduce the aggregate amount of salaries now paid 
to public officers, will furnish the chief means of preventing the im- 
mense deficiencies which I have pointed out. The delay of the Senate 
in acting upon this measure must embarrass all our efforts to properly 
adjust our tax levies and appropriations. If a bill reducing salaries 
shall pass, the present appropriations can, of course, be correspondingly 
reduced. If such a bill shall not pass, then the appropriations, so far 
as salaries are concerned, must remain as now reported, and our efforts 
to retrench expenses must be directed to other points. I therefore 
urge upon the General Assembly the great importance of prompt 
action upon the salary bill, in order that the amount of appropriations 
required may be knbwn while the appropriation bill is under consid- 
eration. 

Of the perfect practicability of a large reduction of salaries I have 
no doubt. I consider it compatible with the efficiency of our civil ser- 
vice generally, demanded by the wants of the people, as well as by 
their expectations when we were elected to our several offices, and 
especially by the present condition of the industries and sources of 
revenue in the State. And in making such reductions I say explicitly 



246 GOVERNOR ClIAMBERLAJN'S 

that I am in favor of large reductions, from the highest office to the 
lowest, wherever the salaries are not protected by the Constitution. I 
say, let there be no favoritism, no partiality, at any point ; and in the 
case of my ovv^n salary, though it is protected by the Constitution from 
reduction during my present term, I will voluntarily submit to as great 
a reduction as may be made generally in other salaries. A reduction 
by one third of the present salaries would not, in my judgment, be too 
great. Such a reduction would at once remove almost the entire 
amount of deficiency arising under the first section of the Appropria- 
tion Act, and would likewise reduce by nearly one third the deficiency 
arising under the second section. 

In addition to this, there are points at which still larger reductions 
might be made without public injury. Upon this point I submit to the 
General Assembly whether the present salaries of the Circuit Solicitors 
might not be wholly abolished ; whether the salaries of County School 
Commissioners might not also be reduced by one half, and whether the 
pay of County Treasurers and County Auditors might not be so arranged 
as to increase the revenues of the State while at the same time reducing 
the pay of those officers. I know that if there is an earnest purpose 
on our part to serve the public exclusively in these matters, such re- 
ductions can be made as will nearly or quite remove the necessity of 
deficiencies in our appropriations for the present year. 

I especially urge that the question of the reduction of salaries be 
brought to an early decision. No more light will be shed by delay 
upon the cpiestion, and if no reductions are to be made, it is bet- 
ter that the result be known, in order that the appropriations may be 
arranged accordingly. 

I call special attention likewise to the propriety of a careful revi- 
sion of the ajiproj^riations other than for salaries made in the second 
section of the appropriation bill as now reported. If our appropria- 
tions are brought within our receipts for taxes, the several appropria- 
tions will be promptly paid, and all our public institutions can be 
conducted upon a cash basis, which will of itself greatly reduce the 
expenses of these institutions. 

By proper legislation the expenses of both the Lunatic Asylum and 
the State Penitentiary can be reduced, and the efficiency of both the 
institutions be increased. These are subjects which require careful 
and intelligent examination. I do not advise hasty or ill-considered 
reductions at these points, but I do express the opinion, founded on 
my own examination, that considerable reductions in the expenses of 
these institutions can be made by limiting the persons to be admitted 
to the Lunatic Asylum to those classes whose forms of lunacy require 
special medical treatment, and to those whose lunacy develops itself in 
violent or uncontrollable actions ; and in the case of the Penitentiary by 
employing the labor of the convicts in profitable occupations. I also 
urge that a careful inquiry be made as to the amounts actually required 
for the proper support of the State Orphan Asylum, the State Normal 
School, and the Agricultural College. 



ADMINISTKA TION. 247 

In the ways suggested and in many other ways it is possible, in my 
judgment, to bring the appropriations of the present year quite near 
to the amounts which will be derived from the levies already made. 
The work of retrenching expenses and removing abuses is always diffi- 
cult, but it is always honorable, and at the present moment it is neces- 
sary. My own pledge when a candidate for my present office, and the 
pledges of the political party which elected me, require it, and, what 
should be even more binding in its obligations upon us all, the wants 
of the people of the State require it. 

Very respectfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



On the 2d of February, the Committee of Ways and Means 
met to consider the tax bill that had been drafted ; and, by invi- 
tation, the Governor was present to make suggestions. The fol- 
lowing report of his part of the proceedings was published the 
next day in the Columbia Union-Herald : 

The Governor, in addressing the Committee, said that he was glad to have been 
invited at a time v^^hen his recommendations would be most appropriate, that is, be- 
fore any action had been taken by the Committee. He spoke not only as Governor, 
but as a citizen. He did not wish his views as now expressed to convey the impres- 
sion that unless they were acceded to he would be bound to act strictly upon them 
when the bill should be perfected. He would urge his views as a citizen, as Gov- 
ernor, and as a member of a party which he desired to be strong because it was right. 

A printed bill was before the Committee from which the Governor spoke when 
making his comparisons, it being one that had been proposed but not yet considered. 
He felt that it was necessary even in a party light to give token that the pledges of 
the last campaign had been in some measure fulfilled. He read the fifth plank, 
a resolution in the platform adopted when he was nominated. This pledges the 
party, if successful, to abate admitted extravagances, reduce salaries, dispense with 
unnecessary ofhces, and bring the expenses within reasonable appropriations and tax 
levies. This was a voice which should be heeded, but it was not the strongest one call- 
ing upon us. The voice of duty to a tax-burdened and impoverished people de- 
manded that we should practise that economy which the hard times had enforced 
upon them. He felt bound, as Governor and as a citizen, to insist upon carrying out 
these pledges by practical reforms. This is the last year of the two for which we are 
elected, and it is our last chance to do that which ought to have been done before. 

In vindicating his views on the tax levy he was necessitated to refer largely 
to the appropriation bill, and a reduced levy means also reduced appropriations. 

The first section of the proposed tax bill levies i-^ mills. This should be reduced 
to f"^ of a mill. In order to do this, a reduction of salaries should be made. The 
Governor's salary should be made $2,500 ; private secretary, $1,200 ; messenger, $300. 
The Lieutenant Governor's salary should be struck out entirely, and he should re- 
ceive the pay and emoluments of a Senator, he having no duties except that of pre- 



248 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

siding officer. In speaking of the State officers he said that they should no longer 
be considered as " heads of departments," whose sole duty is to sign papers prepared 
by clerks. They should be required to do the work themselves for which the State 
pays them, with an allowance for clerk hire when it was necessary. He recom- 
mended the following as a fair basis : For Secretary of State, $2,000, with $500 for 
clerk hire ; Comptroller General, $2,000, clerk hire, $2,000 ; Treasurer, the same ; 
Superintendent of Education, $2,000, clerk hire, $500 ; Attorney General, $2,000, 
clerk liire, $500 ; Adjutant General, $500, with no clerk, there being almost nothing 
to do in that office. 

No change was recommended in the salaries of Judges. They are not only pro- 
tected by the Constitution, but they are prohibited from engaging in their profes- 
sions. The Clerk of tt^e Supreme Court should be allowed but $1,000, and the salary 
of the Reporter struck out altogether ; the reports can be not only made, but pub- 
lished, by contract, without expense to the State. The salary of Solicitors should be 
struck out altogether. Good lawyers can easily be found now, as in the past, to take 
the office for the fees. Such men as C. D. Melton, Mr. Youmans, and Judge Reed, 
were Solicitors without any salaries. He would not say that some of our present 
Solicitors could live on the fees, but the better the lawyer the more easily he could 
live upon them. 

Reductions were recommended, also, as follows : Keeper of Statehouse, to $600 ; 
watchmen to $300 ; Superintendent of Lunatic Asylum to $2,000 ; Physician of Peni- 
tentiary to $300. 

The County Auditors are aggregated to receive $32,200 ; they should be reduced 
so as to bring the aggregate to $25,000, and the salary of a clerk for the Auditor of 
Charleston County should be stricken out. School commissioners should not be 
elected to live upon the office. Such men were generally unfit to be school commis- 
sioners. What a travesty upon a school system it was to elect men to examine and 
employ teachers who themselves, in many cases, were too ignorant to more than sign 
their names. 

The health officers, who are employed but six months in the year, should be re- 
duced to half their present salaries. Competent, physicians in Beaufort, Charleston, 
and Georgetown could add such duties to their regular professions. 

The Governor's contingent would be sufficient at $2,000, and the system of offer- 
ing rewards by the State for murderers should be discontinued. The counties should 
act in such matters. The proposed contingents for other officers were reasonable, 
except that of the Adjutant General, who needed none. 

He recommended that no fund be provided to carry on litigation. If occasion 
demanded, the best lawyers in the State could be had to aid the Attorney General 
and get their pay when the service was performed, through the action of the Legis- 
lature. 

The Comptroller General and School Commissioner could doubtless get on witli 
$2,000 and $500 respectively for blanks. The funding expenses and the publication 
of statements of the Treasurer can be done for $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. These 
items are all in the first section, and if the recommendations are adopted, the tax 
levy can be brought down to -^^ of a mill. 

The second section can be reduced to W of a mill. This is for penal and charita- 
ble institutions. The Governor suggests the letting out by contract of the labor of 



ADMINISTRA TION. 249 

the convicts. If this is done, he thinks that $20,000 will be sufficient for the Peni- 
tentiary. 

The Lunatic Asylum, if those now in it who are only weak-minded, idiotic, 
and harmlessly insane were sent to the county poorhouses, leaving those who are 
curable and those who are too violent to be left unrestrained, can be carried on for 
$40,000. 

The State Orphan Asylum has only seventy-five children, and should be allowed 
$6,000, instead of $10,000. 

The University should be reduced to an expenditure of only $30,000. The keeping 
up of the hollow shell of an ancient institution should give place to a useful and 
practical high school. As at present conducted, it was a waste of money and a waste 
of effort. We do not need the name of a university, but the reality of a practical 
education. 

The Normal School and the Agricultural College should be voted no more than 
$5,000 each. 

These reductions would amount to $68,000, and would be sufficiently provided for 
in a levy of ^ of a mill. 

The printing contract will expire with this year, and all the printing needed by 
the State can easily be contracted for by responsible parties for $25,000. One fifth 
of a mill will be enough for this, instead of one third. 

Legislative expenses could by a proper law be brought into one half of the pres- 
ent expense. Six dollars a day for fifty days for 157 members would be $47,100,- 
mileage, $9,000 ; attaches, $5,000 ; contingents, $3,000. This would call for one 
half mill, instead of one mill. 

The two mills for schools could as well as not be made one and a half mills. He 
was not certain but that, instead of being injured, the schools would be benefited by 
reducing State aid and relying more upon local aid. Our space forbids an attempt 
to give the Governor's very interesting remarks upon this subject. 

The deficiency tax, as at present advised, could not be less than f mill, but if the 
Senate passed the salary bill now before it \ mill might be enough. 

The above, with two mills for interest, and i^ mills for the two "bonanza " Acts, 
will foot up %\ mills. The Governor urged that an effort be made to bring it to 8 
mills, expressing the belief that it could be done. 

Some discussion took place upon the subject of taking care of the bills of the 
Bank of the State. The Governor refused to advise the Committee on the subject. 
His advice given heretofore had been misunderstood and disregarded. That there 
would be a great deal of trouble experienced this year from this source he now knew 
and all knew. If they were to be taken care of, the tax levy would not fail to be 
high, let the reductions made be ever so sweeping. The duty, in view of this, was 
the more imperative that the suggestions made to-night be carefully considered. 



The Columbia correspondent of the Charleston News and 
Courier, in his despatch that evening, after mentioning the items 
of retrenchment recommended by the Governor, said : 

His estimate reduces the appropriations as follows : Salaries, from $190,600 to 



^5° GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

$118,000. Public institutions, from $179,200 to$iio.8oo. Legislative expenses from 
$128,000 to $64,000. The public printing, from $50,000 to $25,000. 

His speech was long and earnest, and was carefully listened to, the reporters 
being allowed to l,e present. The Committee decided at once to come down to the 
Oov-crnor s hgures. adopted his recommendations, and will to-morrow report the bill 
in that form. In addition to this, the Senate Finance Committee to-day reported the 
^T^ '° '^^^''^ '"''"''' "'''' ^'"^"^'"^ents making reductions aggregating 

The same journal, commenting editorially on these facts in a 
subsequent issue, said : 

This is the direct work of Governor Chamblerlain, and we value it for the proof 
n gives that he has the determination and the power to bring the Legislature to terms 
and for the hope it raises of still better things next year, more than for the amount oi 
money actually saved to the people, important as that is. The tax bills had become 
a test question with the public. Both Governor Chamberlain and the Legislature 
were pledged to reduce the taxes to the lowest possible figure. The public were de- 
termined to hold both departments of the Government to their voluntary engage- 
ments, and to allow neither the Executive nor the Legislature to excuse its own short- 
comings by pleading the perversity of the other. The result is a most auspicious one 
Governor Chamberlain has done what no Democrat could, with such radical materials' 
have hoped to accomplish ; and if. by his conduct, he has strengthened himself with 
his own party, as he doubtless has done, we need not deplore that fact so long as he 
exerts his influence for the benefit of the whole people. 

As a further testimony to the energy and success of the 
Governor, an editorial article from the Ncivs and Courier (Febru- 
ary 5, 1876), which bore the title "A Week's Work," is here 
given. 

The rapiditj^ with which defeat follows defeat must stun the thieves in Columbia 
and certainly takes away the breath of the public. Here is one week's work • 

I. The Radical rascals, in caucus, are unable to agree to take a recess, so as to 
bring the General Assembly together again in the summer 

2 The resolution of Jones to inquire whether the Governor had done his duty 
in relation to the official bonds of certain State officers, is laid on the table in the 
Senate and the irascible Nash admits that he has had enough of fightin^ Mr 
Chamberlain. s. & '• 

3. The Committee of Democrats, appointed on Leslie's motion to investigate the 
charges o fraud against him as Land Commissioner, ask to be discharged, because 
Leslie will not consent to a thorough investigation, and Mr. Speaker Elliott decides 

hat the Committee already have full power to inquire into all the transactions of 
the Commission ; the Committee will, therefore, give Leslie more than he bar- 
gained for. 

4. Governor Chamberlain meets the Committee of Ways and Means, shows them 
how to cut down expenses for 1876-77, and tells them they can, and must, reduce 
the State tax from 10 mills, as proposed, to 8} mills ; the Committee agree and re- 
port accordingly. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 2 5 I 

5. Governor Chamberlain notifies the Ways and Means Committee that they can 
further reduce the State tax, for 1876-77, from.8^ mills to 8 mills ; the Committee 

agree. 

6. The new election bill, putting the appointment of Managers of Election in the 
hands of the Legislature, and creating a Canvassing Board of the Louisiana sort,— a 
deliberate plan of the thieves to count in their candidates next November, — is defeated 
in the House, on the first division, by a handsome majority. Speaker Elliott and 
Whipper voting with the minority. 

7. y. D. Robertson, Text-book Commissioner, is reported by the Committee of 
Privileges and Elections as having made corrupt proposals to Northern publishing 
houses, and will probably be expelled from the Legislature. 

8. A motion prevails to expunge from the House journals the infamous harangue 
in which Whipper poured out his abuse on Governor Chamberlain and his praise on 
F. J. Moses, Jr.; in the course of the debate Whipper attacks Elliott, and Elliott, 
in return, denounces Whipper as an ingrate, a falsifier, and a knave ; it was EUiott 
who secured Whipper's election as a Judge, and who told the colored members of the 
House that, by their vote for Whipper, he would measure their Republicanism. 

Governor Chamberlain has cowed these people. They are on the run, and he 
keeps them running. To him, not to them, the honor and praise ! They are not 
changed in heart or purpose. They are as corrupt, as malicious, and as ignorant as 
on Black Thursday. The people know it, and will not be deceived. 

The tax bills and appropriation bills, as passed by the Legisla- 
ture and approved by the Governor, were the lightest for many 
years, "and in all particulars substantially in accordance with the 
Governor's earnest recommendations. The Legislature also passed 
two "bonanza" bills which were framed to his satisfaction and 
thus avoided the objections made to the similar bills of the pre- 
vious session. These things were not accomplished without hot 
and bitter conflicts, and the abuse poured out upon their "ugly 
honest " chief magistrate by the leaders of a faction in the Legis- 
lature was as virulent as can be conceived. They were enraged 
beyond all control because they discovered that they were grow- 
ing weaker while he was growing stronger. Having failed in their 
attempted coiip of the 13th of December, their followers had lost 
confidence, and were beginning to hedge. 

The Worcester (Mass.) Spy, commenting on Governor Cham- 
berlain's struggle with the Legislature over the supply bills, made 
these suggestive remarks : 

Considered in connection with the history of supply bills, and the analogy between 
our political institutions and those of Great Britain, the fate of the bill above referred 
to is especially curious. English sovereigns had quarrels with their parliaments on 
various occasions, and the parliament could only bring the monarch to terms by refus- 



2 52 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ing the supplies he asked for. The king often complained of the meagreness of the 
parliamentary grants, and to obtain 'even much less than he asked had often to sub- 
mit to what he considered humiliating concessions, but he never complained that the 
supplies were too great. But in South Carolina we have the novel spectacle of a pro- 
longed contest between the Executive and the Legislature, in which the cause of quar- 
rel is that the latter persists in raising from the people by taxation more money 
for executive uses than the Governor thinks the people ought to pay or the executive 
branch of the government ought to spend. 

On the 2 1st of January the Governor removed Mr. Thomas S. 
Cavcnder from two ofificcs held by his appointment, one that of 
Auditor of Chesterfield County, the other that of a Commissioner 
under the Act for the settlement and payment of claims against 
the State. By charges brought to the attention of the Governor, 
and to which the defence, to say the least, was not conclusive, it 
appeared probable that in the latter ofifice Mr. Cavender had 
abused the confidence reposed in him, to the injury of the State 
and his personal profit. The Governor made public a full state- 
ment of the circumstances, reviewing all the evidence, and con- 
cluding as follows : 

No duty could well be more painful than that of reaching a conclu- 
sion unfavorable to Mr. Cavender. The matter has, however, passed 
beyond my control, and I am compelled to take my action under my 
responsibility as a public ofificer. During the passage of the Act in 
question, I insisted, as a condition precedent to my approval of the 
Act, that the Comptroller General, or some other competent and re- 
sponsible ofificer, should have the power, and be charged with the duty, 
of auditing all claims under the Act ; and if now, in view of the facts 
which at the very least raise a very grave suspicion that Mr. Cavender 
has sought to abuse that power, I should fail to act with promptness 
and decision, I should justly expose myself to suspicion equally grave 
respecting myself. I shall therefore require the immediate resignation 
by Mr. Cavender of both the ofifices he now holds under my appoint- 
ment. Whatever further steps may be taken, either to vindicate or 
condemn any parties connected with those transactions, will be properly 
conducted by other tribunals having greater powers and better facilities 
than I have for reaching the exact truth. 

In his Inaugural Address Governor Chamberlain spoke with 
much emphasis on the subject of Executive pardons of persons 
duly convicted of crimes. Probably no form of the misrule of the 
State under Scott and Moses was more degrading and intolerable 
than the system of wholesale pardons for political, personal, or 
pecuniary considerations. The sale of pardons was open and 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 253 

notorious under Moses, and the last hour of his official life was 
spent in signing and issuing pardons, to the number of fifty-seven. 
Governor Chamberlain, in his Inaugural Address, said : 

I think it proper that I should state on this occasion, that in the 
exercise of the power conferred on the Governor by the Constitution 
"to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction," I shall endeavor to 
keep in view the end for which our criminal laws are framed — the re- 
pression of crime and the protection of society. The occasions will be 
rare and attended by peculiar circumstances, in which I shall feel justi- 
fied in setting aside the judgments of our courts and the verdicts of 
our juries. 

How he maintained this standard and performed the most 
painful duty of a chief executive officer, the records afford most 
satisfactory evidence During his term the majesty and authority 
of the law were not made contemptible by the Chief Magistrate. 
His scrupulous care and firmness in this particular a few examples 
will serve to illustrate conclusively. The following letter was ad- 
dressed to citizens of both political parties in Colleton County 
who had petitioned for the pardon of a man convicted of man- 
slaughter : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, August 27, 1875. 

Gentlemen : — I have received your petition for the pardon of Joseph Corley, con- 
victed at the last February term of court in your county. I have referred the same, 
according to my invariable rule, to His Honor Judge Maher for his report and advice. 
I now have his reply, accompanied by his notes of evidence at the trial. I have care- 
fully read all the evidence, and I fully concur in the following extract, which I make 
from Judge Maher's letter : "It will be seen," says the Judge (from the evidence), 
"that the dying declarations (of the deceased) were proved by other witnesses be- 
sides relations of the deceased ; that they were corroborated to some extent by the 
confession of the prisoner himself ; that the notion of self-defence is supported by the 
prisoner's statement alone, and that the verdict of manslaughter was the most charita- 
ble view that could have been taken of the case by a conscientious jury." 

I cannot reconcile the testimony with the position set forth in the petition. On 
the contrary, it seems to me that the evidence fully warranted the verdict, and if so, 
how can I grant a pardon within less than six months after the trial ? 

I am aware it may be said that you, gentlemen, who have signed the petition 
have more interest in the welfare of your county than I can possibly have, and that 
you would not ask the pardon if it were incompatible with the public good. Still I 
feel that I ought not to act against the evidence presented to me, and that something 
ought to be shown which impairs the moral validity of the verdict or shows that jus- 
tice does not require the enforcement of the sentence before I should intervene. I 
am struggling hard to restore the laws to their proper force by abstaining from the 
use of the pardoning power, except in cases when I can see sufficient reason for be- 



2 54 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

lieving thai the law will not be weakened by the Executive clemency. It would be 
vastly easier to yield to such appeals as the present case makes to me, but I submit to 
you whether in so doing I should not be responsible for an improper interference 
with the course of justice. 

As now advised, I must decline to grant a pardon in this case, or to modify the 
sentence at present. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

It was Governor Chamberlain's invariable custom in acting 
upon applications for commutations of sentence, or for pardons, 
to prepare and give to the public, through the press, a statement 
of the reasons for his actions. The following examples of this 
practice exhibit the feelings of a merciful man, who recognizes 
that he is bound by public duty to execute the laws. The closing 
paragraphs of the first paper are worthy of special attention. In 
the second it is noticeable that the Governor refused to grant a 
pardon even upon the recommendation of the judge who tried the 
accused, being convinced of his guilt and fair trial. 

THE STATE VS. DEiNIS R. BUNCH — MURDER. 

Denis R. Bunch was tried and convicted upon an indictment for murder before 
His Honor Judge Reed, at the February term of the General Sessions for Charleston 
County, and sentenced to be hung on the i6th day of April, 1S75. 

On the day previous to the execution of the sentence I was induced to grant a 
respite of one week, and before the expiration of this respite an order was granted by 
the Lieutenant Governor postponing further the execution of the sentence until the 
28th of May, 1875. 

It appears from the papers submitted to the Lieutenant Governor, and subsequently 
placed in my hands, that the action of the Lieutenant Governor was mainly in- 
fluenced by the statements contained in affidavits of A. F. Farrar and Julius M. Bing, 
to the effect that they were in possession of information and facts which would show 
extenuating circumstances sufficient to induce Executive clemency, which information 
and facts they were prevented from laying before me by my temporary absence from 
the State. 

Subsequently the friends of Bunch laid before mc the papers, which w-ere consid- 
ered by the Lieutenant Governor sufficient to justify his action, and, by the friends of 
Bunch, to warrant me in at least commuting the sentence from death to imprisonment 
for life. Official copies of one or two papers which were deemed essential, and which 
were to have been furnished me, have not been received, owing to sufficient causes, 
but I have been able to obtain, in a reliable fonii, all the information which those 
missing papers could have contained. 

I have now patiently heard and read all that is claimed by any one can bear upon 
the question that I am to decide. 



ADiMINIS TRA TION. 255 

Having previously considered the whole case, with the exception of such informa- 
tion and statements as have been laid before me since the order of the Lieutenant 
Governor was made, it is not necessary for me to repeat that I am forced to concur 
in the verdict of the jury and the sentence of the Court, so far as they depend upon 
the facts developed on the trial. 

The additional circumstances which are now relied upon as furnishing grounds for 
a change of the sentence are these : That upon the trial one F. A. Michell testified, 
among other things, that about nine o'clock on the morning after the homicide, Bunch, 
in reply to an inquiry why he shot Donahue, said " that he had killed the Irish son of 

a , and he was not sorry, and he intended to kill two more sons of if he got 

out" ; that upon the trial subsequently of the case of the State vs. F. W. Dawson, in 
the same court, Michell being a witness, his testimony was disproved, and his general 
character for veracity was successfully impeached. It is urged that these facts are 
sufficient to justify me in concluding that the statements made by Michell on the trial 
of Bunch are unworthy of credence, and that when his testimony is rejected an essen- 
tial part of the evidence upon which the verdict and sentence rest is eliminated. My 
attention was also called to the reference made by Judge Reed in passing sentence 
upon Bunch to the testimony of Michell, and it is urged that this testimony must 
have been essential in establishing in the minds of the jury and the Court the malice 
of Bunch in committing the homicide. 

It is clear that it is now impossible to determine with certainty what weight was 
given by the jury to the testimony of Michell ; but I cannot think that it follows from 
this that, admitting the falsity of Michell's testimony, the conclusion should be 
reached that the jury would have rendered a different verdict, or that the present ver- 
dict is not fully supported by the other testimony in the case. On the contrary, the 
question before me is whether the testimony of Michell can reasonably be regarded as 
an essential part of the testimony necessary to fully sustain the verdict rendered. If, 
after rejecting the testimony of Michell, there manifestly remains sufficient evidence 
to support the verdict, I cannot feel myself at liberty for this reason to disregard it. 
I have carefully re-examined the testimony in the case other than that of Michell, 
and am fully convinced that the verdict of the jury was correct, and the sentence of 
the Court such as the law prescribes. 

I find, indeed, that Judge Reed, in passing sentence and reciting the leading 
features of the evidence, used the following language : " Next morning, when you 
(Bunch) had had time to cool, you repeated your declaration that you had shot ' one 
Irishman, and, thank God, he was not a native,' and when you got the chance again 
you would shoot others." Bunch at this point shook his head, and, the judge ob- 
serving him, continued : " This may not be true ; but, after a fair trial, and a defence 
by able and zealous counsel, after a fair hearing, the jury have pronounced you 
guilty of the murder of that unfortunate man, John Donahue." 

This seems to show clearly that the judge did not regard the testimony of Michell 
as essential to sustain the verdict of murder. 

The other testimony in the case seems to me to show affirmatively that the deed 
was done with malice as well as excessive brutality. 

The testimony tending to show that Bunch was at the time of the homicide under 
the influence of intoxicating drink was before the jury, and must be presumed to 
have been fully weighed by them. 



256 



GO VERNOR CHAMBERLAIN ' S 



The unusual interest manifested in urging Executive clemency for this unfortunate 
man has excited my deepest personal sympathies in his behalf, and I have been more 
than willing to find a ground upon which I could avert his fate. The power lodged 
in the Governor in such cases brings a fearful responsibility, which nothing but ex- 
perience can enable one to fully appreciate. 

Doubts and misgivings thicken around me whenever I am called upon to pass 
upon the life or death of a fellow-being. The only clear light which I can see is the 
light of my ofificial duty. I am appointed and sworn to " take care that the laws are 
faithfully executed, in mercy," but still that they are executed. The fact that the 
duty which I feel I am now discharging has been so often imposed upon me is due I 
cannot refrain from saying here, to the failure on the part of those who have preceded 
me to discharge their duty. 

^ I am fully persuaded that public duty forbids me from interfering to any extent 
with the e.xecution of the sentence imposed upon Bunch. 

I). H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

THE STATE vs. GEORGE HARDEE — xMURDER. 

George Hardee was tried and convicted of murder in the same court and at the 
same term with Denis R. Bunch. The execution of the sentence of death was likewise 
postponed in the same manner until the 28th of May, 1875. Upon the urgent appeals 
of his friends I have again carefully examined his case. It is due, perhaps, to Judge 
Reed, as well as to myself, that I should state that Judge Reed, in a communication 
to me, dated April 5, 1875, recommended that the punishment of George Hardee 
should be commuted to imprisonment for life. This recommendation was entitled to 
the greatest weight with me, and has induced me again and again to examine the 
testimony taken at the coroner's inquest, as well as in the general sessions. I cannot 
discover any evidence or circumstances which reduce the crime of George Hardee 
below murder. If the law of the State as it now stands is to be executed in any case 
It should, in my judgment, be executed in this case. There are, no doubt, degrees of 
atrocity in murder, and the case of George Hardee does not present those revolting 
features which sometimes attend the commission of this crime, but. as I remarked in 
a former statement of this case, " I see no evidence that he was under the influence 
of passion arising from the quarrel to such a degree as to reduce his offence below 
murder, nor do I see any evidence under which his action can be regarded as self- 
defence." 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

In this place the following letter may properly be quoted, 
although it has reference to the correction of an abuse of power 
in the matter of pardons rather than to its legitimate exercise. 
It also shows how some of the Governor's associates in adminis- 
tration were lying in wait to take advantage of any opportunity 
to assert their authority in opposition to him. 



A DM INI S TRA 7 ION. 257 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, August 13, 1875. 
Hon. J. P. Reed, Judge First Judicial Circuit, Charleston, S. C. : 

Dear Sir — At the June term, 1875, of the Court of General Sessions for Charles- 
ton County, Joseph Gibbes and John Smith were convicted of the crime of murder 
and sentenced to be hanged on the 30th June, 1875. I now learn that, during my 
recent temporary absence from the State, the Lieutenant Governor, Hon. R. H. 
Cleaves, has assumed the authority to commute the sentence of Joseph Gibbes, as 
above stated, to imprisonment in the penitentiary for twenty years, and that in con- 
sequence of this action of the Lieutenant Governor the execution of Joseph Gibbes 
did not take place on the day fixed by you, and has not yet taken place. I have no 
information of any kind in regard to this matter, except what I have observed in the 
newspapers, no order, or copy or notice of the order, of the Lieutenant Governor 
having been sent to this office. Joseph Gibbes, I assume, in the absence of official 
information, is still in the jail at Charleston. 

The action of the Lieutenant Governor as above stated is, in my judgment, 
wholly without authority of law, and hence null and void ; and my purpose in ad- 
dressing you at this time is to call your attention to what I consider the necessity of 
action on your part, if you agree with me in regarding the action of the Lieutenant 
Governor as unauthorized and void. 

It is proper to add that at the time of leaving the State I informed the Lieutenant 
Governor by letter of my proposed absence, and that I should be in direct communi- 
cation with my office in case any necessity for the official action of the Governor 
should arise. 

You will remember, also, that the question of the right of the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor to act as Governor during the temporary absence of the Governor was directly 
involved in the recent cases of Hardee and Bunch, in Charleston.' \\\ those cases, 
however, the action of the Lieutenant Governor extended only to the postponemept 
of the execution of the sentence. In the present case it extends to the change of the 
sentence, and involves the right to exercise all the powers of the Governor. It pre- 
sents a case, therefore, which compels me to seek a judicial determination of the 
question involved, and to this end I beg to call your attention to the case, and to say 
that, in my judgment, your Honor should regard the action of the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor as null and void, and proceed to enforce upon the said Joseph Gibbes the 
sentence of your court, subject to such action by the Executive as he may take when- 
ever the case may be submitted to him for his action. 
Very respectfully your Honor's obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

Judge Reed took no action in line of this suggestion, and the 
Lieutenant Governor's interference with the course of justice 
could not be undone. 

' See the Governor's statement in the case of Denis R. Bunch, p. 254. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The State Convention for Choosing Delegates to the National Republican Conven- 
tion — Governor Chamberlain a Candidate for Delegate — The Opponents of His 
Policy Resolved to Defeat Him — Extraordinary Efforts and Combinations to 
That End — Apparent Success of the Scheme — Only a Minority of Delegates 
Favorable to Him — Turbulent and Bitter Contests in the Convention — The 
Governor and His Friends Defeated Again and Again — The Governor 
Assailed and Denounced in a Violent Speech by Judge R. B. Carpenter — His 
Eloquent Reply Produces a Revolution of Sentiment, and He is Chosen a Dele- 
gate at Large by a Great Majority — Descriptions of This Oratorical Combat by 
. Eye-Witnesses — Abstracts of the Speeches — Further Proceedings — The Gov- 
ernor's Action at Cincinnati. 



IN April, before the adjournment of the Legislature, a Repub- 
lican State Convention met in Columbia for the purpose of 
choosing the party's representatives in the National Convention 
to be held in Cincinnati in June. This presented the first occa- 
sion since his inauguration for a judgment of his party on his 
course, and the Governor challenged a judgment by allowing it 
to be known that he desired such an expression of approbation 
and confidence as would be implied by his selection as one of the 
delegates at large to the Cincinnati Convention. He knew, and 
all knew, that the fate of reform in South Carolina, so far as it 
depended on the Republican party, was involved in his ability to 
maintain his leadership. The convention to be held later in the 
year for the nomination of candidates for State offices would be 
greatly influenced by the action of the earlier convention. The 
Governor's enemies were alive to the significance of the occasion. 
It was their opportunity. They determined to rebuke him deci- 
sively and "read him out" of the party. The Republicans in the 
Legislature, whom he had thwarted and exposed, and whose 
wrath was hot, had powerful allies. United States Senator John 
J, Patterson came from Washington to South Carolina, avowedly 
in the interest of Senator Morton and to secure the defeat of 



.-/ DM INI S TRA 1 ION. 259 

Governor Chamberlain. For active helpers he had most of the 
Federal office-holders in the State, with Gen. Worthington, Col- 
lector of the Port of Charleston, at their head. Associated with 
Patterson were also the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
ex-Congressman R. B. Elliott, whose influence over his own race 
was almost despotic, and C. C. Bowen, the white Sheriff of 
Charleston County. 

With these professional politicians was associated R. B. Car- 
penter, the Judge of the Fifth (Columbia) Circuit, who had been 
elected a delegate from Edgefield County,' and who had once 
been a candidate for Governor, supported by. the Democrats. 
Hatred of Governor Chamberlain's reform policy had taken him 
from his judicial duties to join in this assault. 

When the Convention met, April 12th, the combination ap- 
peared to have been wholly successful. Governor Chamberlain, 
who was himself a member, chosen by the Republicans of Horry 
County, seemed to have no chance whatever. There were rival 
delegations from several counties, but in every instance the State 
Executive Committee had enrolled only the delegates hostile to 
him. A strongly supported effort to admit contestants, without 
prejudice, until the Convention should decide who were entitled 
to seats, was promptly voted down. The strength of the majority 
and their bitterness towards the Governor were shown by an earl}^ 
incident. He was nominated for temporary chairman ; but S. AJ 
Swails, a colored Senator of no particular distinction or ability, 
was chosen instead by a vote of 80 to 40. The Convention held 
a day and evening session on the 12th, and a day and evening 
session on the 13th, the last session beginning at 9 o'clock, after a 
brief recess, and continuing until after 7 o'clock the next morning. 
From beginning to end the sessions were scenes of noisy excite- 
ment and angry struggle. At one time, owing to the indiscreet 
language of a delegate, there was peril of bloodshed. Confusion 
reigned for a quarter of an hour, and most of the spectators, 
with many delegates, having regard for their personal safety, left 
the hall. It was reported that a chair was raised over the head 
of the Governor, as if to strike him down. Progress under these 
conditions was slow. 

' Edgefield County, as will appear hereafter, was the headquarters of the plotting 
to prevent the Democratic party from giving any support to the Governor. 



26o GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The report of the Committee on Credentials was not made 
until the third session, and the permanent organization was not 
effected until just before the brief recess preceding the final all- 
1 night session, when the real business of the Convention was trans- 
I acted. During all this time, the combination headed by Senator 
' Patterson held solidly together. Every proposal of the minorit}- 
was voted down, and every case of contest for seats was decided 
against the Governor's friends. The proceedings culminated in 
an oratorical duel between Judge Carpenter and Governor Cham- 
i berlain, which is still referred to as a notable triumph of character 
/ and eloquence over ignorance, prejudice, and personal animosity. 
Howard Carroll, Esq., then a special correspondent of the New 
York Times, was present on this occasion, and sent to that paper 
a graphic description of the scene. Having reviewed the circum- 
stances and course of the Convention, and the repeated defeats 
of the Governor's party, some of them of a character to make 
them seem like wanton affronts, the report proceeds as follows: 

So Chamberlain was left almost unaided in the Convention. State Treasurer Car- 
dozo, a most intelligent colored man, was his strongest supporter, and the only man upon 
whom he could depend. He fought gallantly against overwhelming odds, however, 
and it was not until late last night that a permanent organization was reached. Then 
a great deal of discussion ensued as to the election of district delegates, and it was 2 
o'clock this morning when the business of electing delegates at large was reached. 
At this time Chamberlain's stock was at its lowest, and it was an open secret that he 
intended to leave the Convention, and, claiming that it did not represent the honest 
r Republican element in South Carolina, call an independent meeting, and send a con- 
) testing delegation to the National Convention. Elliott was the first delegate at large 
' elected ; then United States Senator Patterson was nominated, and against him was 
named Governor Chamberlain. His nomination was greeted with shouts of derisive 
laughter, and if the call had then been made, he would not have received twenty-five 
votes. The scene at this point was an exceedingly interesting one. It was past 
3 o'clock in the morning, yet the grand old Assembly chamber, intended for the use 
of the Southern Confederacy, was filled to the doors with black and white spectators 
who had been present and attentive through the night. On the floor the delegates — 
they had been in session fourteen hours — were reclining upon their desks or upon the 
Speaker's platform, completely worn out in mind and body. As the name of D. H. 
Chamberlain was put in nomination, however, many of them started to their feet, 
and all gave the closest attention to the proceedings. Then, amid a breathless 
silence. Judge Carpenter, one of the most effective speakers in the country, arose and 
said : " Gentlemen of the Convention, I rise to oppose the nomination of Governor 
Chamberlain, and I am sure that I will convince you that my opposition is just." 
Then for nearly an hour the Judge heaped reproach after reproach upon the head of 



A DA/IN IS TRA TION. 2 6 1 

Chamberlain. He was not true to his party ; he was playing into the hands of the 
Democrats ; he had betrayed his official trusts ; he cried reform, but gave none ; he 
had been Attorney General under Scott and Moses ' ; he must have been aware of 
their crimes ; and in short he was in every way unqualified to represent the State of 
South Carolina in a National Convention of Republicans. It was just five minutes 
after four o'clock, and daylight was coming in through the window, as Gov. Daniel 
H. Chamberlain, " the most eloquent man in the South," rose to defend himself 
against his accusers. His slight frame trembled, and great drops of sweat hung on 
his forehead as he commenced the speech which would bring'^to Kirir political life or 
death in South Carolina. ""ThenTTor an hour and a half he spoke, delivering one of 
the grandest orations ever listened to in America. He not only denied, but clearly 
disproved, every"clTarge which Carpenter had brought against him ; and then turning 
to attack the man by whom he had been so terribly assailed, he accused him of com- 
plicity with Ku-Klux, and proved that all through the bitter campaign of 1870 he 
had worked for and with the Democrats. As the speech progressed, the colored 
delegates gathered around the speaker ; then they stood on chairs and desks to get a; 
better view of him. Those who were nearest to him sat on the floor, looking up into 
his face with open-mouthed wonder at his terrible denunciation of his foes and his 
grand vindication of himself. Some of the negroes were entirely carried away by / 
his oration ; they shouted with delight at the conclusion of some of the most effective \ 
passages ; and as the Governor took his seat, pale and exhausted from over-exertion, ( 
all the enthusiasm of their fiery nature broke into one long-continued cry, and the 
name of " Chamberlain, Chamberlain, otir Chamberlain," was echoed from every 
part of the Capitol. Carpenter tried to reply, but they would not listen to him. The 
roll was then called, and Chamberlain Avas elected over Patterson by a vote of 89 t^o 
32.* He had won by his eloquence. 

That Mr. Carroll's report, enthusiastic as it seems, was not ex- 
travagant appears from the testimony of others present. J. F. 
Keegan, who represented the Washington (D. C.) Chronicle, in a 
letter written from Charleston three days after the adjdVirnment 
of the Convention, said : 

I will not attempt to do his eloquent apppeal even simple justice, as I feel confi- 
dent that a miserable failure would attend my efforts. Whang ! bang ! went the 
solid shot of argument, whizzing through the air into the Edgefield camp. " Ooh ! 
ooh ! ooh ! " exclaimed the colored brethren, when the Governor referred to Judge 
Carpenter's former Ku-Klux affinities ; " now, now ; he 's got him, shoo ! " For two 
long hours the " Little Giant " proceeded uninterrupted, except every now and then 
by the warm and enthusiastic applause of the assemblage, but a few hours ago his 
bitterest foes, and now his adorers. I have often been favored with an opportunity 
of listening to some of the very best orators in the Senate and House of Representa- 

' This is obviously an error. Governor Chamberlain held no office during the ad- 
ministration of Governor Moees. 

* The Columbia Union-Herald reported the vote as being 73 to 39. The whole 
number of delegates was 124. Of the votes for Patterson it was said that 27 were 
cast by the delegates whom the earlier majority had admitted in cases of contest. 



262 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

tives, but never, since the clays of tlie late lamented Stephen A. Douglas, did I ever 
enjoy such a magnificently polished oration. Senator Patterson sat in front of the 
Governor during the delivery of his response to Judge Carpenter, and at its conclusion 
pronounced it as being simply suijerl). 

The correspondent of the Charleston News and Coiirier tele- 
graphed from Columbia at 6:45 ^•^'^- of the 13th : 

No words could describe the effect of the reply of Governor Chamberlain in a 
speech as graceful and finished as it was bold, cutting, and at times even pathetic. 

The Columbia Sunday Sun, a Democratic journal, said : 

It was a master production, and whether it be considered from a rhetorical stand- 
point or from its wonderful effect upon the audience who listened to it, will rank our 
Governor with the leading forensic orators of the land. 

It is much to be regretted that these speeches were but im- 
perfectly reported. The Union-Herald, in publishing them, said : 

The report is necessarily imperfect. Reporters, tired out by a session of fourteen 
consecutive hours, were incapable of doing justice to the occasion. 

From this unsatisfactory report the passages to be here given 
will indicate at least the vigor and temper of the combatants. 
Judge Carpenter, a man of fine ability, imposing mien, and high 
rppute as an orator, claiming to be Governor Chamberlain's per- 
sonal friend, and his ardent supporter whenever he had been a 
a candidate for office, thus defined the issue he now made with 
him : 

Governor Chamberlain was elected by the Republican party, and I propose to 
state this evening what I consider to be the real issue between him and the other wing 
of that party. It has been flashed over the wires and published day after day in the 
public prints. It has been stated by the Governor, or rather by his organ or organs, 
day after day, that the issue is between Governor Chamberlain and honesty and the 
Republican party, and a den of thieves. I deny that this is the issue. I say that the 
issue is whether he has kept fealty with that band of men who by their suffrages 
placed him in power. You remember that election. Too vile for me to repeat were 
the maledictions, curses, and denunciations that were showered upon his head by the 
Democratic press of the country ; but we stood around him and took the pelting 
storm, and hurled back their cries of thieves and robbers, and bore him triumphantly 
into the gubernatorial chair. I state, without fear of contradiction, that from the day 
he entered the office of Chief Magistrate of this State he turned his back upon the 
men who fought for him and with him, and has sought only to advance himself at the 
cost of his allegiance to his party. [Cheers.] 

After asserting that all the corruption developed in the State 
Government had developed during the administration of Governor 



ADMINISTKA TION. 263 

Scott, when Chamberlain was Attorney General, he asserted that 
all the reforms for which Chamberlain claimed the credit were 
initiated during the administration of Governor Moses. " We 
have heard," he exclaimed, " a great deal about the reforms 
effected by Governor Chamberlain. What are they ? The saving 
of $27,000 of the contingent fund, nothing else ! " Then resum- 
ing his argument on the issue he had made, he continued as 
follows : 

Well, sir, the Governor was elected after a bitter contest, and the moment that he 
was elected he turjied around with a spirit of forgiveness that excelled that displayed 
in the Sermon on the Mount — 'forgave his enemies, blessed them that cursed him, and 
prayed for those that despitefuUy used him and persecuted him. You are asked to 
say that this Governor has represented the Republican party properly. He can't say 
that for me. I won't let him say it. He has said that the men who have voted for 
two certain judges in this -State are a gang of thieves. I did not vote for them, so 
this epithet does not apply to me. But one hundred gentlemen in this hall did vote 
for them. Are they willing to say that it applies to them ? How were these 
men elected judges ? The Governor, instead of talking to his friends, remonstrating 
with and advising them, saw fit to use the goad and lash upon the party from the 
time he came into power until now, and he used that goad once too often, and that 
is the reason why they were elected. 

Judge Carpenter charged that the Governor had refused 
to counsel with his party friends, but had acted dictatorily and 
arbitrarily in all matters, and this was the reason why they had 
revolted from his leadership. 

He is no ordinary man. You, who see him in his calm, quiet moods, do not know 
him as I know him. He is a man of splendid ability, as brave as Cassar, as ambitious 
as Napoleon. He is bold, daring, and ambitious. If he were in France there would 
be a co2ip d'etat, and he would be king, just as he has tried to be king of the Repub- 
lican party here. [Applause.] Under and over all that apparent control he has 
deliberately planned this campaign, and he is deliberately carrying it out, and I 
observe here that some of these men, cowed and lashed by his arbitrary assertions of 
power, are even now crouching at his feet. I was born free, and, by Heaven, I will 
die free ! I call no one master but my God, and when the political, lash is applied I 
lay no claim to the lofty forgiveness of my friend. I cannot kiss the hand that smites 
me, nor turn the other cheek to him who smites, — I strike back ! [Applause.] In 
my judgment Daniel H. Chamberlain has been murdering the Republican party from 
the hour he became Governor of South Carolina. As he is my friend I shall spare 
him ; but when he meets me in the conflict, there shall be no quarter. 

Well, sir, I maybe asked where is the 'proof of these charges? I will answer 
that it is to be found in the vetoes, interviews with newspaper reporters, and in vari- 
ous discourses delivered at various times and places all over this country. It was he 
who sent that famous despatch to the New-Englanders at their dinner in Charleston, 



264 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

in which he announced that the civilization of the Roundhead and Cavalier, of the 
Puritan and Huguenot, was in danger. My friend is so overpowered with the 
classics that he has failed to see the broad view of civilization which flows through the 
land. The Puritan and the Cavalier have not been in danger in South Carolina since 
freedom came within her bounds. Thank God, that civilization has been dead since 
that freedom came into the land. The freedom of the Cavalier and the Puritan was 
the civilization of the master and the slave. It was the civilization of the tyrant and 
the crouching slave. In its stead has come the bright sun of liberty, shining 
through her fields all blossoming with the blooms of liberty. Thank God that the 
civilization of the Puritan and Cavalier is gone never to be reinstated. Freedom has 
come, not only to four millions of slaves, but to millions of whites also. Slavery did 
not pertain alone to the negro. When freedom came it came to the whites as well 
as to the blacks. I have no tears to shed over the graves of the civilization of the 
Puritan and Cavalier. 

Now, Mr. President, if the gentlemen in this Convention, a large number of 
them members of the Legislature, who cast their votes for these judges, are ready to 
place their hands upon their mouths and cry " guilty " before Governor Chamberlain, 
it is their funeral, not mine. So far as I know this Legislature, it is not to be bought 
on those terms. The Legislature and not the Governor is the judge of the judges 
they elect. It is neither his business nor mine ; and when they attempt to say that 
because the Governor says that a man is not moral or learned enough for a judge that 
he can withhold his commission and enforce his arbitrary imperial power to a tyran- 
nical extent, they take a ground that I cannot endorse. 

Thus Judge Carpenter fulfilled his formal announcement at an 
earlier stage of the Convention that at the proper time he intended 
to show that there was " an irrepressible conflict between the 
Governor's policy and the principles of Republicanism." He 
denied that the Governor deserved any credit for accomplishing 
reforrns in the State Government, and maintained that the exist- 
ing schism in the party was not on account of the Governor's 
fidelity to the pledges made by the party and himself when he 
was a candidate, but to an unnecessary, arbitrary, selfish, and 
treacherous course on the Governor's part. How monstrously 
unjust such an arraignment was, need not be argued to those who- 
have perused the foregoing record. Nor does it seem worth 
while to quote from that part of the Governor's speech in which 
he set forth the results of his Administration in rcph' to the 
amazing statement that there were no reforms except a small 
saving of the contingent fund. No one will be likely to doubt 
that he marshalled the statistics bearing on this point with force- 
ful and conclusive logic. But how did he meet the imputations 
of infidelity to his party, of courting his traducers, of disregarding; 



A DM IN IS 7 -RA TION. 265 

his friends, of seeking his own advancement through treachery ? 
And how did he overcome the reiterated appeal to the animosity 
of the members of the Convention, also members of the Legisla- 
ture, whose intended action he had many times defeated and 
denounced ? To these inquiries of a legitimate curiosity the fol- 
lowing passages from the speech will give answer : 

Mr. Chairman : — Frequent allusion has been made to my coolness. 
I sometimes feel that nothing could be further from the truth than that 
statement respecting me, but I am happy to say that as I stand here 
to-night amongst the Republicans of South Carolina, the touch of 
whose elbows I have never failed to feel since 1868, I feel as calm and 
cool as a May morning, and as ready to meet the charges that have 
been brought against me as I shall be to meet the sweet kisses of my 
wife and children this morning. It has been announced here that the 
issue is that of party fealty, and the charge is brought by one whose 
lips ought forever to be sealed against making the charge concerning 

fiarty fealty against any other man that lives in South Carolina. 
Cheers.] 

I am reminded to-night of the only other occasion when I had the 
pleasure of measuring swords with him who assails me to-night. I re- 
member that in 1870, when the Republican party's life was assailed and 
a strong and vigorous hand clutched at the throat of the Republican 
party, I was commissioned by that party to go to Chester, in this State, 
and see if I, with my friends, could unloose the death-grip which he had 
fastened upon it. [Loud cheering.] [A voice : That 's it, give it to 
the traitor of 1870.] Sir, I went to Chester. I met there, as the 
chosen leader of the Democracy in South Carolina, this man who now 
assails me with the charge of a want of fealty to the Republican 
party, covering with words such as never yet sullied my lips, 
with invective and obloquy which no reporter has ever been able 
to take down, covering the Republican party, I say, with reproaches 
and curses too deep to be repeated here. Performing that task for the 
Republican party of South Carolina, I say I found there the gentleman 
who now comes into a Republican convention for the first time in his 
life, and calls me to account for my want of party fealty. 

Well, Mr. President, there are other incidents that should have 
taught the gentleman from Edgefield to make his attack upon me at 
some other point than party fealty. He went through the Democratic 
campaign of 1870, and what was the result of that campaign? The 
Republican party triumphed ; but what was the condition of the upper 
counties ? Was it not true that York, Lancaster, Fairfield, Union, and 
Spartanburg were in a state of rebellion against the laws ? Was it not 
true that the gentleman from Edgefield sowed in that campaign 
those dragon teeth that afterwards sprung up into the masked Ku- 
Klux at night ? [Cheers.] Well, Mr. President, for eight long 
months succeeding that campaign the tardy arm of government 



266 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIA'S 

waited to bring help to the people whose burning cabins lit up 
the face of heaven for miles at midnight, and whose cold bodies 
weltered in that light under the bloody stab of the Ku-Klux ; and 
when at last relief came, and when in this very building the perpetra- 
tors of those deeds stood face to face with justice, it was my duty as 
the law officer of the State to stand for the government against these 
malefactors who had sprung up from the teaching of the gentleman 
from Edgefield. I well remember that when we were in one of the 
most critical of those trials, the first, that was to establish the question 
(Whether we could proceed far enough to bring these red-handed assas- 
sins to justice, among witnesses called from afar and brought here to 
give testimony that should shield the Ku-Klux, was the Hon. R. B. 
Carpenter. [Loud cheers and intense excitement.] And this, fellow- 
Republicans — men of South Carolina, — is the record of the man who 
tells us Jiere to-night, if we trust those that have never yet betrayed 
us, *' God help us ! " God help us, indeed, fellow-Republicans, if we 
are not yet sufficiently grown to manhood and the estate of man, to be 
able to understand that nothing of the motives which have solely to do 
with the prosperity of the Republican party animates the breast of him 
who addresses such teachings here to-night. 

Talk about party fealty ! I have sometimes felt, Mr. President, that 
I was the greatest slave on earth. I have felt so because brought up 
at my father's knee, at my mother's side, all my life long I have worn 
the great bonds of principle that bind me forever and ever to the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party. If I have ever erred in the matter of 
party duty, it is that I have shrank from sometimes asserting my man- 
hood, even above the dictates of any earthly party. Well, I wear those 
fetters, as others in the party, yet. Why ? Because we love her princi- 
ciples. Because neither in '68 nor '72 nor '76 is there earthly induce- 
ment strong enough to lead us one step beyond the great circle that 
holds and protects the Republicans of South Carolina and the United 
States. Here I stand, and I might borrow Luther's great words and 
say : " Here I stand, I can do no other, within this sacred circle of the 
Republican party. God help me ! " I scorn — I put the foot of my 
uttermost contempt upon any charge from mortal lips that I have 
swerved from my allegiance to the Republican party, or that the 
thought has ever lodged in my breast that did not breathe fidelity, 
honor, and allegiance forever to the principles and organization of the 
Republican party. 

Now, sir, as to my Administration. I wish, Mr. President, that I 
might clothe myself always in the beautiful garments of modesty and 
humility. I trust that I have some of that spirit that says : " He 
that would be greatest among you, let him be the servant of all." I 
wish to speak with becoming modesty of that which I must call, for 
the sake of brevity, " my Administration." To go back to the last 
campaign. I stood then, after a long and fierce struggle, on the same 
ground upon which you now, Mr. President, stand — the recipient of 
the suffrages of the people for the highest position in the State. I call 



ADMINISTRA TION. 267 

to mind, when I stepped down from that platform I remember so well, 
that I was met on the last step by the gentleman whom I now have in 
my eye, the gentleman from Charleston, who is now the Comptroller 
General of the State, and who said to me : " Mr. Chamberlain, I con- 
gratulate you personally, but nothing more. I cannot make myself the 
champion of any man who is surrounded by such men as those to 
whom I now point (C. C. Bowen and John J. Patterson). [Loud 

laughter.] 

■=^ * -it -x- * * * 

Let me go back to the moment when I was standing where you, Mr. 
President, now stand, and heard my language applauded to the echo 
(as I shall not probably be applauded to-night) by every Republican, 
man, woman, and child, within these walls ; where I said first, last, and 
all the time, that the steps of the Republican party must be steadily 
upward and forward towards reform and better government. You 
placed that banner in my hand, and I grasped it with an ardent though 
all too feeble grasp, and I bore it through a conflict which was headed 
by the gentleman from Charleston whom I now have in my eye. He 
had denied me his support, but I bore your banner at last to victory. 
Beneath my feet you put your platform, and above my head you spread 
the magic and glorious words : " Political Reform." We went to vic- 
tory, and when that victory was won, I stood again where you now stand, 
Mr. President, and I spoke again words that met the approval of the 
community, and of the Republican party, when I said that I was 
pledged in honor, in character, and pledged in language, to be steadfast 
and immovable in my efforts to lift up the Republican party above the 
crimes of the campaign of 1870, and above the crimes of 1874. [Im- 
mense cheering.] 

It has been said that I have used the whip and spur from that day 
till now. I wish I was " as brave as Julius Csesar," but I know that I 
am an arrant coward ; and I can tell you, gentlemen, that there have 
been times in my Administration when, had it not been for the tender 
counsels and support of the wife of my love, I should have faltered on 
the way, and stained the record that I would lay down my life for, 
rather than tarnish, for the sake of the dear children that now lie 
sleeping at home. As weary as I am, I must come here to take up this 
new cross and hear myself assailed and taunted by one who covers with 
a gloss of praise the dagger that he would plunge to my heart. I have 
done things, no doubt, that have seemed to others to have been done 
in wantonness of power towards them. I know that ; and I also know 
that before the combination led by the delegate from Edgefield was 
formed, he said : " Chamberlain, I am with you at every step you take, 
but I wish you would be a little more communicative to your friends." 
I accepted it as the advice of a friend. I am willing to plead guilty to 
so much of the indictment. I sometimes wish my nature was such that 
I could make known more easily my purposes and intentions. I say it 
sincerely, that if a lighted window had been placed in this bosom, and 
you could have seen the purposes I have had towards the Republican 



268 GOVERNOR CHAiMBERLAIX'S 

party, you would know that a kind and helpful word from any man, 
entitled to respect, would have been received gratefully by me, and 
would have made me a greater and a better man than I am. 

******* 

Oh, I wish, in this night of turmoil, that I could seek refuge in the 
quiet calm of the civil courts, where I love to practise, and where I 
could hide myself away from one who comes here to stab me as a 
friend. I wovild borrow from these courts the Latin phrase and apply 
it to his case, — Falsus m uno, falsus in ojnnibus. False in one statement, 
false in all. 1 know not how long I could take the time of this Con- 
vention, by proving that this Administration, notwithstanding the taunts 
of the gentleman from Edgefield, has advanced good government in 
South Carolina. Ask that distinguished gentleman there (pointing to 
Chancellor Johnston), once an honored incumbent of the bench, 
whether or not this Administration has husbanded the resources of the 
people and protected the taxes of the people. I wish I had been " as 
brave as Julius Caesar," that I might have led this people, black and 
white, up this mountain, up to the summit of peace to which we climb 
so slowly. I could not do it, and now that my weary steps have just 
ascended to the first table-ground, this assailant comes and clutches me 
in the rear, as he clutched you by the throat in 1868. He is the same 
Democratic warrior, this gentleman from Edgefield. God helping me 
and the Republicans of South Carolina, we are going to shake off this 
burden that is now hung on us, and we are going to ascend that mount 
together, and our feet shall never tire until the sunlight of victory 
bathes our brows on its peaceful summit. 

******* 

I go for the protection of every man. The meanest man who assails 
me because he is my political enemy, shall have my protection with the 
rest. Democrats and Republicans alike shall have my protection, and 
when South Carolina can't protect the lives and liberties of her citizens, 
I conceive it to be the highest duty of the United States to protect 
them, and my highest duty, I conceive, is to invoke that aid in time of 
need. But, Mr. President, I am charged with possessing something 
more than human or divine forgiveness towards my enemies. I am 
growing weary, and I must not detain you longer. If, there is one 
sweet drop that I drink to-night, it is this, — that though my enemies 
have hunted me like a partridge on the mountain, yet never since my 
feet stood there where you stand now, Mr. President, on the ist of De- 
cember, 1874, have I ever uttered one word of reproach against those 
who had so bitterly opposed me. Blot out the whole record, fellow- 
Republicans, if I have betrayed you ; blot out every thing else, but let 
it stand there as my recompense, that never against all my enemies have 
I ever raised one harsh or vituperative word. Let it be written some- 
where that Chamberlain never said an unkind word against those who 
abused him and looked upon his coming almost as a thief in the night. 
Tear down the scaffolding that I have erected, condemn my whole 
record, cast me off if I have betrayed you ; yet to me comes the sweet 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 269 

word, like silver bells, *' forgiveness ! " If I don't get the blessing of 
the gentleman from Edgefield and the people of South Carolina, I will 
get the blessings of my wife and children and the blessings of my God. 
[Loud and prolonged applause.] 

I am getting weary and shall say only one word more. I will not 
again defend myself. Let me say that the only sin that I can lay to 
my door is that I have not stood still firmer in this pathway of political 
reform. I shall fix my eye more steadily upon the polar star of politi- 
cal reform, and I shall strain myself more zealously at the oars that 
shall waft that bark with its freight of hopes and aspirations and bless- 
ings into the calm sea of political equality and administrative reform. 
If it has been supposed by letting on this cry and attack upon me 
to-night, if it has been imagined, that my cheeks would blanch with 
fear, let it be set down once for all as a dead mistake and failure. 
Nulla vestijyia retrorsuvi. Never a step backward. 

Do you imagine invectives have any terrors for me ? I have been 
told, I don't know how many times, that, if I would cut loose from one 
or two of my friends, the majority would stand by me. Thank 
God, I have one or two friends who have stood by me. Let me tell 
you, that if I knew that your suffrages would sink me so deep that no 
bubble would rise to tell where I went down, I would stand by F. L. 
Cardozo. [Immense cheering.] If you think that I am to be bought 
by going to Cincinnati to go back on a man who, to my knowledge, has 
never done a dishonest act, and who has always stood by me, you are 
mistaken, that 's all. Do with me as you please. If you dismiss me 
to the shades of private life, be' it so. You called me. I am your 
servant always, and I bow to your commands. [Loud and long cheer- 
ing and intense excitement.] 

The most significant feature of this triumph is that it was ob- 
tained, not only without suggestion of concession or compromise, 
but by courageous and defiant insistance on the course which had 
provoked all the hostility confronting him. The only promise he 
had made for the future was that he would be more faithful to 
reform, more antagonistic to corruption, than he had been in the 
past. No shorn Samson, this! Before the multitude of his foes 
he rejoiced in and renewed " the pledge of his unviolated vow." 
In the hour when they were exulting over their bound victim, he 
burst their withes and stood forth victor. What but a heart of 
truth, an absolute, dauntless sincerity, — 

" That heat of inward evidence 

By which he doubts against the sense," — 

could have inspired him so to meet and so to subdue the majority 
enlisted and arrayed to destroy him ? Have we not here a fresh 



270 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

illustration of the genuine, the prevailing, the nigh irresistible 
eloquence which is apt to be kindled, even on unready lips, in the 
exigency of a cause esteemed higher and dearer than any per- 
sonal fortune? The man, the subject, and the occasion, which 
Webster declared to be the three constituents of eloquence, were 
all present together in Columbia on that April morning. 

The further proceedings of this Convention were of little im- 
portance, comparatively. A resolution approving of Governor 
Chamberlain's Administration was, after brief debate, laid on the 
table, for the avowed reason that it expressly condemned the 
conduct of so many who were in the Convention. A resolution, 
highly complimentary to Senator Morton, although not instruct- 
ing the delegation to Cincinnati to support him, was passed ; but 
the effect of it was countervailed by the adoption of the following 
resolution immediately offered by the Governor : 

Resolved, That this Convention leaves the delegates of South Caro- 
lina to the Cincinnati Convention wholly uninstructed and untram- 
melled in their choice of individual candidates for President and Vice- 
President of the United States ; but requires them, and each of them, 
to vote and work earnestly and always for those candidates whose 
characters and careers have shown them to be most faithful to the 
cardinal doctrines of the Republican party, namely, equal civil 
and political rights for all men ; instant and complete reformation of 
the existing abuses in the administration of the government ; purity, 
ability, and integrity in all public appointments ; and an unflinching 
determination to make the public service, in all its departments and 
branches, as honorable and benignant as when the unsullied Washing- 
ton wielded the executive power of the republic. 

Thus it happened that he not only headed the delegation to 
Cincinnati, from which he was to have been excluded, but he 
dictated the instruction imposed upon all. 

Governor Chamberlain went to the National Convention in 
Cincinnati, where he was received with marked respect and honor. 
He was a member of the Committee on Resolutions, and to him 
was assigned the duty of drawing the resolution defining the 
policy of the party regarding affairs in the Southern States. It 
was in the following terms : 

The permanent pacification of the Southern section of the Union, 
and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of 



J DMINIS TRA TION. 2 / 1 

all their rights, is a duty to which the Republican party stands sacredly 
pledged. The power to provide for the enforcement of the principles 
embodied in the recent constitutional amendments is vested by these 
amendments in the Congress of the United States, and we declare it to 
be the solemn obligation of the legislative and executive departments 
of the government to put into immediate and vigorous exercise all their 
constitutional powers for removing any just causes of discontent on the 
part of any class, and for securing to every American citizen complete 
liberty and exact equality in the exercise of all civil, political, and pub- 
lic rights. To this end we imperatively demand a Congress and a 
Chief Executive, whose courage and fidelity to these duties shall not 
falter until these results are placed beyond dispute or recall. 

In the first four votings for a candidate for President, Governor 
Chamberlain, of the South Carolina delegation, voted for General 
Bristow, the other thirteen members voting for Senator Morton. 
On the fifth trial two joined him in voting for General Bristow, 
five voted for Mr. Blaine, one for Governor Hayes, and five re- 
frained from voting. On the sixth trial the Governor was again 
alone in supporting General Bristow, seven voted for Mr. Blaine, 
one for Governor Hayes, and two for Senator Morton. General 
Bristow and Senator Morton were then withdrawn from the list 
of candidates, and on the final trial, which resulted in the nomina- 
tion of Governor Hayes, the votes of South Carolina were equally 
divided, the Governor and six besides voting for Governor 
Hayes, the other seven for Mr. Blaine. 





CHAPTER XVII. 

Development of Diverse Opinions in the Democratic Party — Meeting and Address 
of the State Executive Committee of the Democratic Party in January, 1876 — 
In May the News and Courier Defines the Position of the " Cooperationists " 
with Respect to Governor Chamberlain, and Declares that the Republican 
Majority, Led by Him, can be Overcome ' ' in Only One Way, 6y Armed Force " — 
In June the Same Paper Sets Forth the Plan of Campaign of the " Cooperation- 
ists " — Vigorous and Bitter Opposition of the " Straight-Outs." 



THE effect upon the Democrats of the State of Governor 
Chamberlain's victory in the April Convention was to con- 
firm the judgment of those who believed that his intention and his 
ability to secure good government were superior to those of any 
other citizen whom it was possible to elect in his place. These 
Democrats soon came to be known as "Cooperationists." The 
other class of Democrats, those who wanted the offices for them- 
selves at any desperate hazard, were deprived of an argument of 
which they had made much use. It was not so apparent as they 
had previously represented, that the Governor would be driven 
out of the Republican party, and have no refuge but in the Demo- 
cratic party, or in uninfluential private station, leaving the former 
party in the control of the representatives of its ignorance and 
corruption, and so establishing their own claim that the Demo- 
cratic party must be regarded as the only hope of good citizens. 
Nevertheless they labored with no abatement of zeal for their 
ends, and it soon became evident that the struggle of the Demo- 
cratic factions would be a fierce and angry one. 

Early in January, at the height of the agitation following the 
election of judges, the Democratic State Executive Committee 
had been called together in Columbia, and their deliberation re- 
sulted in the following address : 

272 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 273 

To the People of Sotith Carolina : 

The State Central Executive Committee of the Democratic party do not deem it 
necessary to publish any lengthy statement of the reasons which induced them to 
meet at this time. It is sufficient to say that events with which the people of the 
State are painfully familiar, made it indispensable that the organization of the Demo- 
cratic party in South Carolina should be revived as the speediest and most practical 
means of bringing together our hitherto scattered forces, and of concentrating them 
in the struggle into which we are forced for the maintenance of liberty and law in 
the State. Thus it has become the duty of the State Committee to take such steps 
as will enable the people of the State to begin the work of party reorganization at 
once, and make it thorough and complete. 

In the contest in which we are about to engage we must win. Defeat cannot be 
borne. Success, however, cannot be expected to crown our labors unless there be abso- 
lute unity in the Democratic party, together with such discipline as will insure the 
prompt and efficient execution of its policy when declared. From our adversaries must 
we learn, at last, the lesson of organization and activity. When the agencies on which 
society relies for the conservation of its varied interests menace those interests with 
destruction, and threaten a whole people with ruin, politics are no longer a matter of 
sentiment in which the citizen is free to engage or not, according to his tastes. Upon 
the management of our political affairs depends the security of property, as well as 
the safety of person. By political movements alone can the purification of the State 
Government be accomplished. Only through political instrumentalities can honesty, 
fidelity, and capability regain a preponderating influence in the councils of the State. 
To politics, then, for their own salvation, must the people of South Carolina now 
address themselves with the vigor, the persistency, and the systematic endeavor which 
mark their conduct in business life. It would not be wise to declare a policy before 
the party which shall give effect to it is ready for both deliberation and action. The 
officers must not be chosen until the rank and file of the political army shall have 
been mustered in and trained. There should be, in fine, such organization in each 
ward, township, and county, that when the State Convention shall assemble, it shall 
represent, by its delegates, the known wishes, opinions, and purposes of the organ- 
ized Democracy of the State. Then will its voice be the voice of the people ; its 
determination theirs ; its fight their battle. To such organization, searching and far- 
reaching, should the people of the State without delay address themselves. Without 
it the State cannot be saved ! 

The State Convention, when it shall assemble, will determine authoritatively the ' 
policy of the party ; and by the decision of that Convention shall we all be bound. 
As, however, the Democratic party, as such, has had no active existence in South 
Carolina for some years, the State Committee desire to say emphatically that in rec- 
ommending its instant and comprehensive organization, their sole purpose is to obtain 
an honest and economical government in South Carolina which shall maintain, with- 
out abridgment or change, the public rights and liberties of the whole people, and 
guarantee to all classes of citizens the blessings of freedom, justice, and peace. And 
in this crisis in the constitutional life of the State, when civilization itself is in peril, 
we look for and confidently expect to receive the sympathy and aid of every citizen 
whose aims and desires are like unto our own. 

In common with their fellow-citizens, the Democratic State Committee have 



274 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

watched witli anxious solicitude and growing confidence the course of the present 
Governor of the State. They recognize and appreciate the vahie of what he has 
done in promoting reform and retrenchment during the past year. They applaud his 
wise and patriotic conduct in exerting his whole official power and personal influence 
for the undoing of the infamous judicial election. And they declare their belief that 
the Democracy of the State, rising above party as he has done, will give an unfal- 
tering support to his efforts, as Governor, for the redress of wrongs, for the reduction 
of taxation, to obtain a just administration of the law, and to make the Stale Gov- 
ernment a faithful guardian of the public and private interests of the people. 

Therefore, the State Executive Committee earnestly advise the people of the 
State to reorganize thoroughly the Democratic party, in preparation for the State 
Democratic Convention, which will meet at a time and place to be hereafter desig- 
nated by this Committee. The following gentlemen are charged with this organiza- 
tion of the party in ever)' precinct, ward, and township in their respective counties. 

This address formulated no policy except the policy of thor- 
ough organization. Public sentiment was then running too 
strongly in the Governor's favor to be tolerant of any open oppo- 
sition to him. For six months the debate between the " Straight- 
outers," so called, and the " Cooperationists " was vigorously 
conducted, and the latter faction appeared to be gaining ground. 
The News and Courier was the able and unwavering advocate of 
their policy, and it was earnestly supported by many other influ- 
ential journals. The hostile faction, the " Straight-outers," were 
numerous and demonstrative, especially in the upper counties, 
where the colored men were numerically weakest, and in a parti- 
san contest, in which race issues could be made to play a conspicu- 
ous part, would be practically overwhelmed. The following edi- 
torial article from the Charleston Nezus and Courier, of May 8, 
1876, defines the attitude of the " Cooperationists" towards the 
Governor, and the ground of their objection to the scheme of the 
" Straight-outers." The parts here i)rinted in italics were so 
printed originally : 

The Lancaster Ledger says that " the frequent expressions of The News and Cou- 
rier favorable to D. H. Chamberlain have led the Democrats in the up-country to 
believe that it favors the nomination of Governor Chamberlain by the Democratic 
Convention." We give "the Democrats in the up-country " credit for more sense 
than the Ledger would seem to do. But if they believe what the Ledger says, it will 
be their own fault, and the Ledgers, if they believe it any longer. We do not favor, 
nor have we ever favored, the nomination of Mr. Chamberlain by the Democratic 
Convention. That, we hope, is clear and positive. What we do favor, under certain 
circumstances, is something widely different. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 275 

Whether the colored voting majority in South Carolina be twenty thousand or thirty 
thousand, it is certainly large and exceedingly difficult to overcome. The difficulty is 
increased by the fact that the colored population is massed in the lower counties, where 
the whites are few, and the Radical majority can be made whatever the Commissioners 
and Managers of Election choose to make it. The courage and energy of the white 
Democrats in the upper and middle counties avail us nothing in the lower counties. 
These lower counties, in unscrupulous hands, can overcome any possible majority that ; 
the rest of the State can give. Charleston County alone, on the straight-out plan which , 
the Radical Democracy demand, can give from five to ten thousand majority for the 
Radical Republican State ticket. 

Mr. Chamberlain will probably be the candidate of the Republican party for re- 
election. The wilder the talk of the Radical Democracy the greater is his strength, as 
a commanding necessity to his party. In case that he be nominated he will have the I 
undivided support of the Radicals. There will be no bolt. Judge Carpenter, his stout- . 
est opponent, admits that. Add to the solid Republican vote, the power to obtain 
Federal troops as they may be needed, the Executive appointment of Commissioners j 
of Election, the broad and undefined powers of the Board of State Canvassers, and \ 
what prospect is there that he could be defeated ? It could be done in only one way : 
by armed force. For that the people are not ready, and if they were ready such a 
course would end in disaster and ruin. 

These reasons, and others like them, force us, as they force thousands of Conserva- ', 
tives Democrats, to the conclusion that it would be folly to run a Democratic candidate / 
for Governor against Mr. Chamberlain. It would force the Executive to exert his / 
whole influence for the election of the whole Radical ticket, and the Democrats, los- I 
ing the State officers, as well as the county officers and the members of the Legisla- \ 
ture in the low-country, would find no compensation in the thirty or forty members of 
the Legislature who, //' no protests prevail, can be elected in the up-country. What 
we advise, then, is, not to make Mr. Chamberlain, under any circumstances, a Demo- 
cratic candidate, but to waive a nomination for Governor if the Regular Republicans 
nominate him, and to concentrate our efforts on the other State officers and the mem- 
bers of the Legislature. With Mr. Chamberlain as Governor, and a Conservative 
Democratic majority, or thereabouts, in the lower House, the State, in every sense of 
the word, would be safe. In attempting to gain more we might lose every thing. 

We grant that there may be a change in the situation ere the time comes for 
a Democratic nomination. It is possible that the action of the Republican Conven- 
tion will be such as to make it wise and proper that a full Democratic ticket shall be 
nominated. But unless there be a radical change, unless Mr. Chamberlain fail to re- 
ceive the Republican nomination, we must, for the public good, as we understand it, 
oppose the nomination of a Democratic candidate for Governor. There is not a \ 

Democrat in South Carolina who would not prefer to run a full ticket, and who would \ 

. ■ \ 

not rather vote for such a Democrat as Kershaw than for any Republican who ever i 

trod the soil of South Carolina, but it is not just or wise to slaughter our friends, or 1 

make them the Cardigans of a new Balaklava, which, however magnificent, is not 

war. 

The admission is here made that the normal colored (Repub- 
lican) majority in South Carolina was between twenty thousand 



2^^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

and thirty thousand votes, and that it could be overcome " hi only 
one zvay : BY ARMED FORCE." It is an admission that has 
peculiar significance with reference to future events. A month 
later (June 5th) the following article appeared in the same 
journal : 

Abstract political propositions are of no service to the people of South Carolina. 
It is idle to tell them what ought to be. Their concern is with what is. It is folly 
to tantalize them with descriptions of what others, differently circumstanced, have 
done. Their desire is to know what, in their actual condition, they can do. This, 
therefore, is the guiding principle we have in whatever we advise or propose — to 
avoid what is hazardous and impracticable, and seek the public good by such ways as 
are, however long and devious, accessible and safe. For South Carolina cannot 
afford to lose one whit of what has been gained during the past two years. True 
political wisdom lies in retaining what we have, and in adding to it, year by year, 
until the political fortunes of the people are assured. This is the raison d'etre of the 
policy of political cooperation. 

The Democrats in South Carolina are in the minority, else they could and would, 
as a party, obtain control of the State by their own efforts. The Democrats pay the 
bulk of the taxes, and, more than their political opponents, feel the grievous burden of 
extravagant and corrupt government. For eight years the Republicans have held 
possession of the State ; and in that time they have destroyed its credit, and squan- 
dered its substance — making the Democratic minority poor indeed, without enriching 
the rank and file of their own party. As a party, the Democrats have, and can have, 
no higher aim than to drive out incapable and venal officials, and place in power 
men of integrity, capability, and honor. The Republicans as a party, in South 
Carolina, have no loftier object than to enjoy what Senator Patterson describes as 
"five years of good stealing." Nevertheless, in the Republican party there are 
persons who loathe rascality and love honesty as devoutly as the most pronounced 
Democrat can do, and on two several occasions, as we have shown in a previous 
article, about twenty thousand Republicans have refused to vote for party candidates 
who were lielieved to be unworthy, and supported other Republican candidates whose 
platform was opposition to profligacy and fraud. Only by working together can the 
Democratic Reformers and the Republican Reformers out-vote and overcome the 
eighty or ninety thousand colored Republicans who are too ignorant to understand 
that every individual suffers by public rascality, or who deem the perpetual re-election 
of their unscrupulous leaders requisite to their personal security and freedom. 
Neither sixty thousand Democrats nor twenty thousand Republicans are powerful 
enough to do this. The two bodies together can, and will, if the people think before 
they act and look before they leap. 

The Reform Republicans have, at present, no active existence as a party ; aUhough 
there is a nucleus of organization which can be developed and ramified when neces- 
sary. They have given to Governor Chamberlain their unflagging support ; for they 
know that in him they have unexpectedly found the fearless reformer whom they 
sought. Because his single object as Governor is to correct abuses, they have stood 
by him. The Democrats, in and out of oftice, have done the same thing for the 



ADMINISTRA TION. 2'J'J 

same reason. Both Democrats and Republicans opposed Mr. Chamberlain until he 
had shown that no Democrat or Republican, in his position, could go farther than he 
would go in advocating and working for economy, purity, and low taxation. Then 
they ranged themselves by his side. Never was there a more splendid example of 
devotion to principle, never did South Carolina Democrats give nobler evidence that 
the end they aimed at was their country's good. As the Democrats and Reform 
Republicans went over to Mr. Chamberlain, the princes of wrong-doing placed them- 
selves in opposition to him. The qualities which attracted honest citizens drove 
the knaves away. 

Because of his strenuous labors in the cause of good government, because of his 
denunciation of roguery, because of his personal dignity and culture. Governor 
Chamberlain is proscribed to-day by the radical politicians who, until his advent, 
held the State in the palm of their hands, and emptied its treasury into their pockets. 
Mr. Chamberlain will accept a nomination for re-election ; not because of the 
emoluments of the office, which are pitiful, nor for the love of politics, which are not 
to his taste, but because in two years more, with a sound, intelligent, and upright 
Legislature, he can, with the knowledge he has of our condition and wants, com- 
plete the work now begun, and make South Carolina as contented and progressively 
prosperous as any State in the South. The probabilities are that the very rogues who 
hate him most will be forced to consent to his renomination. Our reasons for believ- 
ing that no Democratic candidate can defeat Mr. Chamberlain have already been 
given. If nominated by the Republican Convention, Mr. Chamberlain will be Gov- 
ernor for a second term. But, as events have proved, a Governor, whatever 
his ability, is hampered and thwarted at every turn, unless the legislative branch of 
the government be in sympathy with him. A hostile Senate can prevent the filling 
of public offices with fit persons ; a factious and greedy House of Representatives can 
frustrate any economic scheme, by voting down every measure that lessens its own 
profits and diminishes its opportunity of robbing the people. Governor Chamberlain, 
therefore, cannot, in 1877, any more than in 1876, have an affirmative powerin shap- 
ing legislation, unless a majority of the members of the General Assembly be honest, 
sober, and patriotic men who will give effect to his recommendations, and will rein- 
force and supplement them by their own prudent counsel. In the Legislature of 
1874-75 and 1875-76, Governor Chamberlain, although sustained by the Democrats 
and better Republicans, had only a negative power. As a rule he could prevent the 
passage of measures that were conspicuously bad ; but he could not secure the pass- 
age of measures which were eminently necessary as well as proper. 

The Radicals who elected Mr. Chamberlain, who now abuse him as a renegade 
and the like, will probably be forced, as we have said, to abandon the attempt to 
nominate a man of their own stamp in his stead. They intend, however, to elect 
such local officers and such a Legislature as will make them masters of the situation, 
although the Governor be against them. And they know they can do this, if the 
party lines be drawn and the Democrats run a straight-out party ticket. It is certain 
that the solid Republican vote is larger, by many thousands, than the solid Demo- 
cratic vote ; and the defeat of the Democrats, in a bitter " straight-out " contest, will 
give the State, in spite of the Executive, the worst government we have yet had. 

With these facts before the people they can see, at a glance, how united effort can 
be made practical and beneficial. The first step, and the indispensable one, is to 



278 



GO VERNOR ClIA MBERLA IN ' S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 



nominate no Democratic candidate in opposition to Mr. Chamberlain, if he shall re- 
ceive the Republican nomination. This is put on the broad ground that Mr. 
Chamberlain has earned the gratitude and deserves the confidence of the whole 
people. The next step is, to make such Democratic nominations for State ofiices, 
from Lieutenant-Governor down, as may be rendered necessary by the character of 
the Republican nominees — the opposition and nomination in every case to be based 
upon the dishonesty or incapacity of the Republican candidate. The next step is to 
elect the largest possible number of members of the Legislature and county officers. 
The white counties will send solid Democratic delegations to the Legislature, but 
they cannot elect members enough to do any real good, if the colored counties elect 
none but their Elliotts, Whippere, and Leslies. The object then must be to strive to 
elect such Democrats and Republicans, in the colored counties as, with the up-county 
members, will form a Legislature the majority of whose members shall be capable 
and upright men. In so working the Democrats will command the aid of the Reform 
Republicans everywhere ; they will command the sympathy and moral .support of the 
whole country ; they will secure, without a revolution, a government in every way 
satisfactory, and have solved, without bloodshed or violence of any kind, a momentous 
social problem. 

This is a bare sketch of the way in which Democrats and Republicans can advan- 
tageously work together in South Carolina. It is a general application to our 
present condition of the principle that a party is truest to the objects for which it was 
formed when it makes the public welfare its first and most serious consideration. 

UnqucstioiKibly the polic}^ indicated in these articles was wise, 
just, and eminently patriotic. Equally unquestionable are the 
premises upon which it was based : " // is certain that the solid 
Republican vote is larger, by many thousands, tlian the solid Demo- 
cratic vote "/ and that a Democratic candidate could defeat Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain " i7i only one way — BY ARMED FORCE." 




CHAPTER XVIII. 



The Record of Governor Chamberlain — A Series of Editorial Articles from the 
Charleston N'ews and Cotirier, July 5— 18, 1876. 

EARLY in July, 1876, the Nczvs and Courier, still devoted to , 
the purpose of combining all good citizens for the security ; 
of the State's highest interests by sure and peaceful means, began 
the publication of a series of elaborate editorial articles, entitled 
"The Record of Governor Chamberlain." This series ex- 
tended through the daily issues of nearly two weeks. The candid 
and judicial temper in which the articles were conceived, and the 
fulness of their information, produced a great effect. So well 
was the work done that it now seems worthy of reproduction, 
here in its entireness, being both a concise and just resume o{ so 
much of the history of Governor Chamberlain's Administration as 
has been already set forth in these pages, and also an evidence of 
the light and reason against which the " straight-out " Democrats 
were then acting, and upon which the Neivs and Courier itself, a 
few weeks later, turned its back, yielding its own intelligent judg- 
ment and submitting to a party behest entailing wrongs and evils, 
from which the Commonwealth still suffers. The way by which 
South Carolina might escape the woes of misgovernment without 
resort to bloody crimes or denial of equal rights was open and 
.apparent. But that way did not immediately gratify the im- 
patient ambition of men determined to advance their political 
fortunes by means as offensive to the principles of republican 
government as to the fundamental rights of humanity. Incom- 
petent and corrupt ofBcials are a great evil in a State, no doubt ; 
but an evil less harmful and more readily corrected than the 
wrongful usurpation of political power either by armed force or 
by systematic fraud. 

The series of articles referred to is given in this chapter. 

279 



280 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Since they relate mainly to subjects already presented, they have, 
in some degree, the quality of repetition ; but they bring to light 
so many new facts and conditions and set forth all so distinctly 
with reference to the public welfare and the peculiar interests of 
the white citizens of the State that they constitute a testimony 
which may not be ignored or garbled. The articles were pre- 
faced by an introduction as follows : 

INTROnUCTION. 

The tendency naturally is to shape the policy of the Democratic party in South 
Carolina, this summer, according to the opinion entertained of the value of the ser- 
vices of Mr. Chamberlain as Governor of the State. In this way Mr. Chamberlain 
has become an important element in the canvass ; for if he were not a candidate for 
re-election, or if he could be eliminated altogether from political calculations, there 
would be absolutely no differences in the Democratic ranks. As it is, the only ques- 
tion open is, whether the Democrats, in the event that Mr. Chamberlain receive the 
Kepublican nomination, shall, or shall not, waive the nomination for Governor, and 
allow Mr. Chamberlain to walk over the course. In our judgment this should be 
done ; but if it can be shown that Mr. Chamberlain has been false to his pledges as 
Governor, if he has failed to do his duty in any important particular, then, we con- 
cede, the objections to waiving the Democratic nomination for Governor are 
increased, and the objections to a "Straight-out" nomination are correspondingly 
diminished. 

Several of our Democratic contemporaries contend that Mr. Chamberlain is no 
more entitled to public confidence now than he was at the time of his nomination ; 
that he has done nothing of any value, except what he was obliged to do ; that he is 
bent on solidifpng and strengthening the Republican party, rather than upon reform- 
ing the Government of the State. Such newspapers have short memories, or they 
would not rail at the News and Cotiricr for its high appreciation of Governor 
Chamberlain's work, or blame us for maintaining the inexpediency of making war 
upon a Governor whose political power is enormous, and who has won the confidence 
of an important part of the taxpaying citizens. Under these circumstances we think 
it proper, for public guidance and information, as an answer to scores of questions,, 
and in justification of our own course, to scrutinize and explain the record of Mr. 
Chamberlain, from the moment of his nomination down to this day ; and we shall 
hope to conduct this inquiry with the impartiality, and certainly with the high mo- 
tives, which animated us, two years ago, when examining the record of Mr. Chamber- 
lain as Attorney General of the State. We are as much in earnest as we then were ; 
and we are confident that we have as good reason to praise as we then had to 
condemn. 

It will be necessary to make the proposed scrutiny of considerable length ; but by 
taking up successively the different branches of the subject, we shall hope to avoid 
confusion and to retain the attention of our readers. Our purpose is to begin with a 
brief description of the condition of the State at the close of the term of office of 
Governor Moses. We shall then show what are the pledges given to the public by 



ADMINISTRATION. 28 1 

Governor Chamberlain, in his speech accepting the Republican nomination, and in 
his inaugural and other addresses. This being done, we shall take up, in turn, the 
following subjects, which cover, without exception, we think, the promises and recom- 
mendations by which Governor Chamberlain, upon taking office, was bound : i. 
Minority representation. 2. The election of Justices of the Peace and Constables by 
the people. 3. The registration of voters. 4. The pardoning power. 5. Executive 
appointments. 6. The Consolidation Act. 7. The veto power. 8. The Solomon 
Bank failure, g. The Bonanza bills. 10. The tax laws. 11. Contingent funds. 
12. Legislative expenses. 13. Contingent legislative expenses. 14. The public 
printing. 15. The salaries of public officers. 16. Taxation. 17. Deficiencies. 18. 
County finances. 

The list is a long one ; but we cannot well make it shorter, and when the work 
shall be done we can argue our case by the record, instead of relying, as most of us 
are prone to do, upon gossip or rumor. We shall, in these articles, confine ourselves 
as closely as possible to a recital of the facts, and give our readers the opportunity to 
verify, by reference to the original documents, the material statements we shall make. 
We propose to give time, place, and amount, wherever it is practicable, and we shall 
be quite willing then to leave the public to decide whether Governor Chamberlain has, 
or has not, done whatever any man in his position could do for the correction of 
abuses and the institution of just and equal legislation in the State. 



[First Article — July 5, 1876.] 

CONDITION OF THE STATE — GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S PLEDGES TO THE PUBLIC. 

In order that the public may understand the nature of the difficulties which beset 
Governor Chamberlain at the time of his installation, it is necessary to describe the 
general condition of affairs in South Carolina at the close of the term of his 
predecessor. 

South Carolina was then known throughout the Union as the " Prostrate State," 
and Moses as her " Robber Governor." Thanks to the efforts of the public press and 
the conventions of taxpayers, the infamies of Radical rule were already understood, 
and President Grant, while doing nothing to arrest the progress of the plundering 
crew, sententiously announced that it was time for the Republican party " to unload 
South Carolina." The principal departments of the State Government were utterly 
disorganized. Offices of honor and trust were bartered and sold with shameless, 
effrontery. Moses appeared to regard the appointing power as a perquisite of his. 
office, and regardless of that honor which is said to exist among such as he and his. 
fellows, removed the officers he had profitably appointed so soon as there was an 
opportunity to resell the same place at a higher price. Money entrusted to him for 
public purposes paid the hire of his procurers, and gilded the shame of the victims of 
his lust. Warrants were duplicated, with shameless haste, when the regular appro- 
priations were exhausted, and thus the State or the creditor was doubly defrauded. 

Free from any restraint, the legislative branch of the government revelled at the 
public expense in every luxury that money could purchase. In the concoction and 
passage of corrupt measures a complete understanding existed between the Legisla- 
ture and the Executive. Nothing out of which money could be squeezed escaped a 
most vigorous squeezing. Upon the statute-book were placed, it is true. Acts which 



2«2 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

laid tlie foundation of subsequent reforms ; hut they were enacted either because their 
purpose was not understood, or because Moses and his fellows were confident that 
they could repeal or evade them whenever it should be necessary. The chagrin of 
the robber band when they found that they had, by the "specific tax levies," sur- 
rendered the key of the treasury, was too marked to escape notice. 

The criminal courts were almost a useless expense to the State, as they were no 
protection to the people. Money and favor opened wide the doors of the peni- 
tentiary for the most hardened and depraved criminals. Judges on the bench knew 
that conviction and sentence was a farce while the Executive, the depository of the 
pardoning power, " combined the corruption of a Tweed with all the vices of a Sar- 
danapalus." The credit of the State was buried with her departed public honor. 
Capital shunned our shores. Public indignation grew hoarse in denouncing Moses 
and his radical allies. Blind as were the ignorant masses, the shrewder leaders, the 
Pattersons and Whittemores and Bowens saw that the choice lay between Reform 
and Revolution. 

Such was the position of public affairs when the Republican State Convention met 
in Columbia in September, 1874. The Conservative citizens were resting on their 
arms. They had announced that, if an unobjectionable candidate were nominated by 
the Republicans, they would not oppose his election ; and that, if the Republican can- 
didate should be unworthy of their su]iport, they would vote for any unobjectionable 
candidate who might be nominated by Republicans who seceded from the regular 
party convention. The candidate selected by the radicals was Mr. Chamberlain. 
There was nothing in his record up to that time, as the public knew it, that war- 
ranted the belief that he would be other than a willing instrument of the men who 
procured his nomination. These were the very thieves who had increased the State 
debt from $6,000,000 to $16,000,000, and had shared the profits and crimes of the 
Moses rigime. After a severe canvass, in which the Radical majority was cut down 
from 30,000 to 10,000, Mr. Chamberlain was elected. Then for the first time was 
any heed given to the fair promises which had been made by the successful Radicals 
and their candidate. It was as certain then as it is now that those promises were 
made for show, and as a means of turning the sharp edge of public opinion. The 
public now looked anxiously to see what the promises were, and, with little hope or 
confidence, awaited the meeting of the Legislature which should show whether the 
Governor-elect was indeed the tool of his party associates and supporters. 

We pass to an enumeration of the reforms which the Republican party generally, 
and Mr. Chamberlain specially, were pledged to carry into effect. In 1872 the Re- 
publican party, after nominating Moses, solemnly declared " that the public expenses 
shall be reduced within the public revenue to be derived from a moderate system of 
taxation, based upon a fair and equitable assessment of all property liable to taxa- 
tion," and insisted that " there shall be an immediate reduction in the salaries of all 
public officers, from the highest to the lowest," and that " there shall be a judicious 
reduction in the number of public offices themselves." No attempt was made by 
Governor or Legislature to redeem these pledges. They had answered their purpose. 
And the Convention of 1874, with equal sincerity, reaffirmed them, pledging the Re- 
publican party " to reduce the public expenses within the public revenue, derivable 
from a moderate assessment and tax rate," and "to advocate such a modification 
•of our present system of taxation as shall prove of the largest advantage to our agri- 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 283 

cultural interests," and " to pass such laws as will tend most speedily to develop the 
resources and build up the manufacturing and industrial prosperity of the State." In 
accepting the nomination for Governor (September 8, 1874), Mr. Chamberlain said 
to the Convention : 

" I cannot forbear to now say to you that no platform which does not commit us 
irrevocably and solemnly to the duty of reducing public expenditures to their lowest 
limits ; of administering the public funds honestly in the public interests ; of electing 
competent public officers ; of filling the local offices of our counties and townships 
with honest and faithful incumbents ; of guarding our language and our action so as 
to allay rather than rekindle the flames of past controversies ; of directing the atten- 
tion of our fellow-citizens to the hopes of the future rather than to the memories of 
the past, can bring to us party success or political honor." 

And he warned the Convention that their platform would be "empty words," 
their nominations would bring no honor to their party, and their political success 
would be less than worthless, unless they placed behind their candidate for Governor 
the evidence of their wisdom and truth ' ' in the nomination and election of your best 
citizens for members of the Legislature." In this strain Mr. Chamberlain spoke 
throughout the canvass, pledging himself personally to carry out, in sincerity and 
truth, the promises of the platform. Nor did he underrate the obstacles in his way, 
for in a conversation with a correspondent of the New York T'rz^z^w^ (September 15, 
1874), he said : " The work of reform will 1)0 a consta-.U struggle. It will require 
time to put things right here. If in my two years as Governor I can even ' turn the 
tide,' I shall be more than rewarded." 

It remained to be seen whether Governor Chamberlain, after the election, would 
renew the promises he had made while " under fire," and before the fight was won. 
He was sworn in on December i, 1874, and immediately delivered his Inaugural Ad- 
dress. In this address he recommended a revision of the tax laws, so as to secure the 
assessment of property at its true value ; the limitation of the amount of taxes to the 
actual requirements of the government ; the abolition of contingent funds ; the 
reduction of legislative expenses ; the establishment of proper accountability 
in the payment of legislative expenses ; the extermination of the existing sys- 
tem of public printing, the reduction of salaries ; the keeping of public ex- 
penditures within the receipts ; the election of Justices of the Peace and Con- 
stables by the people ; the registration of electors, minority representation, 
and other measures looking to an application of the principles of administrative 
reform laid down in the party platform and in his addresses on the stump. As the 
first step we see, therefore, that Mr. Chamberlain, as Governor, went further than he 
had done as a candidate ; for as Governor he had not only reiterated the salutary rec- 
ommendations previously made, but showed how they could be taken out of the domain 
of theory and made substantial facts. 

We shall next inquire what was done by Governor Chamberlain in support of his 
recommendations, and point out what was accomplished and what remains undone. 
According to the plan of these articles, the first topic will be Minority Representation. 



[Second Article — July 6, 1876.] 

I. MINORITY REPRESENTATION. 2. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND CONSTABLES. 
3. THE REGISTRATION OV ELECTORS. 

I. Minority representation is no longer under discussion by the people in this State, 
although in such counties as Charleston, by voluntary arrangement, its principles 



284 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

have been successfully applied at popular elections. We only notice it here as one of 
the reform measures advocated by Governor Chamberlain. 

Mr. Chamberlain was a member of the Taxpayers' Convention of 1871, and in that 
body urged the passage of resolutions in favor of the adoption of the system of pro- 
portional representation in South Carolina. In the course of his remarks he said : 
" Do you believe, for a moment, that when you put into an ignorant Assembly, many 
of whom can neither read nor write, forty-seven gentlemen, whom I might select in 
this body, that you would not shame them into decency, or frighten them from 
crime?" Again: "From the moment you place in the lower House forty-seven 
of your ablest citizens, bad legislation will cease and good legislation will begin." 
The resolutions passed, and Governor Scott promised to recommend the measure in 
his next message to the General Assembly. This he did, but in such a way as to en- 
sure the inaction of the Legislature. Mr. Chamberlain, however, still saw in minority 
representation a means of relieving the State from its worst troubles, by checking the 
power of the majority ; and, in his first Annual Message of January 12, 1875, he rec- 
ommended that the system be tried by applying it, in the first place, to the elections 
of incorporated cities and towns. A bill applying this principle to the elections in the 
town of Anderson became a law ; and, confirmed in his views by a practical test of the 
plan, Governor Chamberlain, in his message of November 23, 1875, renewed his pre- 
vious recommendations on the subject, and cordially and earnestly urged the General 
Assembly to frame and enact the necessary legislation. The General Assembly took 
no steps to inquire into or consider the question, and adjourned without taking any 
notice of it whatever. 

For the failure to engraft the system of minority representation upon our political 
system Governor Chamberlain clearly is not responsible. It is true that, in this State, 
such representation may not have as much protective force as in States where the 
average intelligence of both majority and minority is about equal. It is apparently a 
necessity in South Carolina that the voting minority should have a majority in the Legis- 
lature. Nevertheless, with forty-seven Democrats in the lower House last session, 
and the independent vote, the Radical majority could have been checked at every 
turn. What the thirty-three Democrats did succeed in doing is evidence enough of the 
value of the additional votes that minority representation would have given them. 

2. The State Constitution provides for the election, by the people of the several 
counties, of Justices of the Peace and Constables. From 1868 to 1874 these provisions 
remained wholly dormant and nugatory. The Radicals were unwilling to lose the 
control of these offices in counties where they were in a minority ; the Senate and 
House were unwilling to give up the opportunities they had of helping their friends, 
by pushing them forward as candidates for Executive appointments ; the Executive 
was loth to surrender that patronage which strengthened a Scott with his party and 
filled the pockets of a Moses. 

Governor Chamberlain, however, in his Inaugural Address, called the attention of 
the Legislature to the requirements of the organic law. " The General Assembly," 
he said, " is responsible, at all times, for the failure to enforce the constitutional sys- 
tem." The Trial-Justice system, he declared, " was costly, inefficient, and oppres- 
sive " ; the number of the Trial Justices " should be reduced immediately by at least 
one third " ; the incumbents of these offices " are, to a great extent, deficient in the 
qualities which make a useful magistrate." As usual, no heed was given his salutary 



ADMINISTRATION. 285 

recommendations, and, in his first Annual Message, he again called attention to the 
matter, saying that the one sufficient reason why Justices of the Peace and Constables 
should be elected by the people is, that " such is the positive requirement of the Con- 
stitution." Governor Chamberlain also explained that provision could be made, by 
statute, that an indictment for any misconduct should work the suspension of such 
officers, and a conviction work the forfeiture of the office. This would meet the ob- 
jection that magistrates and constables, if elected, could, if .found unworthy, be with 
difficulty removed. No action on the subject was taken by the General Assembly 
during the session of 1874-75, and Governor Chamberlain, in his second Annual Mes- 
sage of November 22, 1875, again urged the Legislature to comply with the mandates 
of the Constitution. " The adoption of new constitutional provisions," he pointedly 
said, "will give little confidence in our good intentions, 'while important existing 
constitutional requirements are wholly and persistently disregarded." Frankly admit- 
ting the defects of the existing method, he said : " The results of the system of Trial 
Justices appointed by the Governor certainly cannot be considered so favorable as to 
justify the annulling of an important part of the Constitution." 

At the session of 1875-76 several bills were introduced in the General Assembly 
providing for the election of Justices of the Peace, or Trial Justices, and Constables. 
None of them, however, passed. The only gain was the passage of some local Inlls, 
limiting the number of such officers and the expenses of their courts. No general 
measure was enacted. 

Upon this subject the record of Governor Chamberlain is absolutely clear. The 
defects of the existing plan were obvious to him, the requirements of the Constitution 
could not be mistaken. Caring nothing for the patronage he would lose, looking only 
to the law and the public good, he exhausted argument and censure in the vain attempt 
to make a debauched and malignant Legislature discharge an imperative obliga- 
tion under the Constitution which every member of the House and Senate is sworn 
to obey. 

3. Year after year the frauds at elections in South Carolina had grown more and 
more barefaced, reaching their height in 1870 and 1872. The State Constitution makes 
it " the duty of the General Assembly to provide, from time to time, for the registra- 
tion of all electors." Such a registration, while not ensuring fair elections, would cer- 
tainly tend to prevent the wholesale repeating, the voting under age, and the ballot- 
box stuffing in which the Radical managers and rallyers regularly engage. The 
absence of registration was, therefore, one of the principal means whereby the 
dominant party retained, and expected to continue to retain, control of the State. 
This well known fact did not prevent Governor Chamberlain from reminding the 
Legislature, in his Inaugural Address, that "no registration of electors has been 
made or provided for, since the adoption of the Constitution in 1868." He rec- 
ommended that the constitutional requirements be no longer disregarded. " The 
obvious justice," he said, " of a registration of electors, aside from the positive man- 
date of the Constitution, renders any argument in its favor needless." The Legisla- 
ture and the press discussed this recommendation ; the Radicals opposing it and the 
Democrats supporting it. In his Annual Message of January 12, 1875, Governor 
Chamberlain renewed his exhortations. This time, defying the sentiment of the 
corrupt members of his own party, he said : 

" If it were demonstrable that party advantage would arise from the neglect of this 



286 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

requirement of the Constitution, il would not have a feather's weiglil in deterring mc 
from carrying into effect the Constitution vvliich I have sworn to support. But it is idle 
to urge that a registration of electors will help, or hurt, any party which relies upon 
proper means to sustain its supremacy. It will not prevent all election frauds, but it 
will go far towards that end, and will tend to give a degree of confidence in the result 
of our elections which has sometimes been wanting." 

The session of 1874-75 having passed without action, Governor Chamberlain, in his 
Annual Message of November 23, 1875, told the General Assembly that " the Consti- 
tution requires registration," and " the phrase from ' time to time' is intended to 
secure the constant observance of this safeguard of our elections." " To my mind," 
he said, " there is no place left for argument on this subject. In a political or party 
view I fear nothing more than the effect of a plain disregard of constitutional require- 
ments. " The General Assembly was not moved by the cogent reasoning of the Gov- 
ernor, or by the mandate of the Constitution, and adjourned without taking the 
slightest notice of the grave question which had thrice been submitted to them. 

We have seen that in the matter of minority representation, of the election of Jus- 
tices of the Peace and Constables by the people, and of the registration of electors, 
Governor Chamberlain not only recommended restrictive and anti-Radical measures 
which his predecessors had not condescended to notice, but recommended them, and 
urged them, in the teeth of the well understood wishes of the Radical leaders, who 
depend, for their continued authority, upon the exclusive rule of majorities, the sad- 
dling of Democratic counties with Radical officials, and false voting, and fraudulent 
counting at elections. It may be said, and it has been said, that Governor Chamber- 
lain made these recommendations knowing that they would be disregarded, and that 
otherwise he would not have made them. But it must be remembered that the Exec- 
utive has no affirmative power in matters of legislation. It is his duty to recommend 
to the consideration of the General Assembly " such measures as he shall judge neces- 
sary or expedient " ; but no responsibility attaches to him for their failure to adopt 
his recommendations. On the other hand, he is entrusted with the power of vetoing 
such measures as do not meet with his approval, and for the exercise of that power, 
promptly and fearlessly, he is responsible to the people, for whose protection that 
power is conferred upon him. Governor Chamberlain used the veto, as will be 
shown, with unexampled frequency and boldness ; and it is tasking even political 
credulity too far to argue that he would make insincere recommendations, to gain the 
praise of his political opponents, while he was unhesitatingly killing by his veto, the 
pet projects of the leaders of his own party. In view of what he recommended, 
where he had only the power to recommend, and what he did, where he had the 
power to act, the irresistible conclusion is, that he was as much in earnest in recom- 
mendation as in action, and that in both cases, with equal earnestness, he exerted 
the whole power and influence of his office to promote the public good. 



[Third Article— July 7, 1876.] 

4. THK P.'VRDOXING POWER — 5. EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS. 

4. No power entrusted to the Governor of a State calls for more wisdom and caution, 
in its exercise, than that of granting reprieves and pardons to criminals. In the stem 
words of the Constitution of South Carolina, the Governor shall " take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed in mercy " ; but any misuse of the pardoning power, 



ADMINISTRA TION. 28/ 

either through the weakness or viciousness of the Executive, strips the law of its ter- 
rors, and impairs, if it does not destroy, the security of property and person. To 
what degree, and with what effect, the Executive prerogative can be perverted and 
abused is read in the history of the Moses Administration. Such was his recklessness 
and his cupidity that judges announced, from the bench, their unwillingness to put 
the State to the expense of convicting criminals for the Executive to pardon. In the 
closing hours of his term of office Moses wellnigh emptied the cells of the peniten- 
tiary. Justice was bound hand and foot in her own temple ! Crime was rampant 
in the State ! Any offender who had strong friends, or whose purse pleaded his 
cause, could count on being set free, after a short detention, to prey anew upon the 
public. It was this deplorable condition of things that caused Governor Chamber- 
lain, in his Inaugural Address, to say : 

" In the exercise of the power conferred on the Governor by the Constitution, to 
grant reprieves and pardons after conviction, I shall endeavor to keep in view the 
end for which our criminal laws are framed— the repression of crime and the protec- 
tion of society. The occasions will be rare, and attended by peculiar circumstances, 
in which I shall feel justified in setting aside the judgment of our Courts and the ver- 
dict of our juries." 

The Constitution requires the Ciovernor to make a report to the General As- 
sembly of the pardons, reprieves, and commutations granted by him. This require- 
ment had been conveniently disregarded, but is faithfully complied with by Governor 
Chamberlain. In explanation of the report of pardons, reprieves, and commutations, 
in his second Annual Message, he said : 

" In discharging this most onerous and painful duty of my office I have endeav- 
ored faithfully to redeem the promise made in my Inaugural Address. The whole 
number of pardons and commutations granted by me, up to November I, 1875, was 
thirty-six. With scarcely an exception, all applications for pardon or commutation 
have been referred by me to the Judge who tried the case, and, as will be seen, in 
nearly or quite every case, my action has had the sanction of the Courts and best citi- 
zens of the State." 

This is clear and positive enough ; but a comparison of the number of pardons 
granted by Governors Scott and Moses with the number granted by Governor Cham- 
berlain, gives a still better idea of the steadfastness with which the latter kept in view 
" the end for which our criminal laws are framed " : 

Pardons Issued by Governor Scott. 

1868 to 1870 332 

1870 to 1872 247 

Pardons Issued by Moses. 

1872 to 1874 457 

From December i, 1874, to May 31, 1876, Governor Chamberlain pardoned only 
seventy-three convicts. Sixty-six of these were recommended to be pardoned by the 
Judges before whom they were tried ; and in the case of the remaining seven the 
Judges, while not advising the pardons, made no objection. In every case where a 
pardon has been granted, the petition therefor was signed by a number of citizens of 
the locality where the applicant had lived. In nearly every instance a considerable 
part of the sentence had been served out, and the ends of justice, in the opinion of^ 
the Governor, fully met, before a pardon was granted. The whole number of appli- 
cations for pardon up to May 31, 1876, was 147. Seventy-four, more than a half. 



2«6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

were refused. During the same period the whole number of persons confined in the 
penitentiary was 723 ; the number pardoned bearing to the number confined the re- 
lation of I to 10. When Governor Chamberlain entered upon the duties of his office 
in December, 1874, there were 124 convicts in the penitentiary. On the 3rst May, 
1874, the number was 400. This increase is due mainly, if not entirely, to the wise 
moderation with which pardons are granted. Society has been weeded of hundreds 
of criminals over whom a Scott or a Moses, as the records show, would have thrown 
the shield of ill-judged or mercenary' clemency. 

We have been particular in giving the exact number of pardons granted by Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain, because it has been asserted that the " pardon-mill " is running 
as merrily as in the piping times of his predecessor. Such assertions, innocently 
made, are best met by the hard facts. No Governor, however careful and conscien- 
tious, can hope to escape error ; but when pardons are recommended by judges who 
try a prisoner, and by citizens who know his character, when the number of pardons 
is reduced by one half, and when a statement of the reasons for granting a petition is 
exposed to public scrutiny at the time that the pardon is announced, the Executive, 
it seems to us, must, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered to have 
discharged a most painful and onerous duty with a scrupulous regard for the interests 
of the people. 

5. In noticing the earnest endeavors of Governor Chamberlain to induce the 
General Assembly to give effect to the constitutional requirement that Justices of the 
Peace and Constables be elected by the people, we incidentally mentioned that he 
frankly admitted that the results of the appointment of Trial Justices by the Governor 
could not be considered favorable. From the moment of his installation one of his 
greatest difficulties was to find, and procure the confirmation of, suitable and worthy 
persons to fill the various offices within the gift of the Executive. Before he had 
been a month in office he saw (S. J. 1874-75, p. 208) " that the importunity of appli- 
cants, the difficulty of obtaining correct and unbiased information as to the qualifica- 
tions of applicants, and the personal dissatisfaction certain to arise whenever any 
selection is made from several candidates," would seriously embarrass him in restoring 
good government and harmonizing the various antagonistic elements of the body 
politic. In his first Annual Message he said . 

"It is a practical impossibility, in my judgment, for any Governor to appoint 
three hundred and fifty Trial Justices, in all parts of the State, so as to secure, to a 
proper degree, the interests of the people affected by these appointments. This im- 
possibility becomes more apparent when the Governor finds himself surrounded and 
trammelled, in the discharge of his duly, in this respect, by what are considered his 
obligations to the political party to which he owes his election." 

No sooner did Governor Chamberlain begin to make nominations than the factious 
Radical majority in the Senate began to reject them. So annoying did this opposi- 
tion become that Governor Chamberlain addressed an Executive Message to the Sen- 
ate on June 20, 1S76, in which he said : 

" I regret to find that there are, in many instances, irreconcilable differences, as 
to the proper men to be appointed, between the Executive and those who represent 
the several counties in the General Assembly. I am anxious at all times to agree 
with those of my own political party ; but I can never purchase this harmony by dis- 
regarding my own judgment, founded upon the best information which I can obtain. 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 289 

I recognize the rule that the dominant party is entitled to the greater part of 
these appointments ; provided, always, that that party can furnish men well qualified 
for such offices. I do not think that this rule requires me to refuse to appoint a po- 
litical opponent, as Trial Justice, when upon the whole I judge that the good order 
and general welfare of a community will be better promoted by appointing occasion- 
ally one of the party now in the minority in this State." 

The embarrassments of which Governor Chamberlain speaks, in connection with 
the appointment of Trial Justices, were far greater when the more important offices 
of County Auditor and County Treasurer were to be filled. One precaution could, 
however, be taken. The sureties upon the bonds of all public officers have been re- 
quired to make affidavit of their ability to fully meet the liabilities they have assumed. 
Under previous administrations most public officers gave " straw-bonds " ; but under 
the present rule the State is secured, up to the full amount of the bond required by 
law to be given, unless the sureties shall swear falsely, which they cannot be pre- 
vented from doing if they are willing to take the chance of detection and punishment. 

In the exercise of the appointing power Governor Chamberlain was always con- 
fronted by a majority in the Senate hostile to whosoever should attempt to fill the 
public offices with any other than their own creatures. Only those familiar with the 
proceedings of the Senate in executive session can realize the bitterness with which 
the " Senatorial group " fought against the confirmation of any person not of their 
selection and under their control. The words we have quoted show that Governor 
Chamberlain understood both the dangers and the duties of his position, and it is 
shown besides that he did his utmost to divest himself of the power of appointing no 
less than 350 public officers, and to give their choice to the people. That he did 
persevere in nominating the best men who stood any chance of confirmation, the roll 
of public officers proves. In some instances objectionable persons were appointed, 
but, as a whole, the character of the public officers is far higher than under Scott or 
Moses. This was the best that could be done. 

It must be remembered likewise that not one in ten of those who are recommend- 
ed for public office are personally known to the Governor, who relies, perforce, upon 
the representations of third persons. How easy it is to be deceived, how^ hard it is to 
form a correct judgment, need not be explained to those who have had experience of 
the difficulty of making proper selections, under the most favorable circumstances, in 
civil or military life. Governor Chamberlain had, it is true, the power to remove, 
for cause, officers of his appointment ; but his action is subject to review by the Sen- 
ate, which can replace the removed officer. This has been done. Again, the Gov- 
ernor cannot act upon rumor. Charges capable of proof must be made before he can 
justly remove a public officer, and unless such proof of incapacity or dishonesty be 
furnished, the officer must keep his place. It is annoying, we grant, that every pub- 
lic officer should not be a person of high respectability and intelligence ; but when a 
Governor has improved the general character of the public service, and has nominated 
the best of the available candidates who could be confirmed, he has done as much as 
can be expected of him. For the shortcomings of any who were confirmed, the per- 
verse Senate, rather than the Executive, must be held accountable. The course of 
Governor Chamberlain, up to this time, is in itself a guaranty that whenever the 
Senate will act favorably, and without imposing conditions, upon his free nomina- 
tions, the public officers of his appointment will be as capable and upright as the 
people can desire. 



290 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

[Fourth Article — July S, 1876.] 

6. THE CONSOLIDATION ACT — 7. THE VETO POWER. 

When the Radical majority in the General Assembly had succeeded, as they sup- 
posed, in electing an ignorant gambler and a mendacious debauchee to the Circuit 
Bench, their exultation found fit expression in the cry, " Chamberlain can't veto 
that ! " They could not, in few wdVds, have manifested more defiantly their sense 
of the effect with which the Executive veto had been used to set aside, or put down, 
schemes just as infamous as that which culminated in the election of Whipper and 
Moses. They laughed too soon. Governor Chamberlain did veto the action of the 
General Assembly, on that Black Thursday, by refusing to issue commissions to the 
would-be Judges, and the claimants are no nearer their coveted seats than they were 
six months ago. In the hands of a Governor who is vigilant and bold, the veto is an 
almost insurmountable barrier to vicious and venal legislators. What use of it Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain has made we shall now show ; taking up the proposed amend- 
ment of the Consolidation Act, before running through the general list of measures 
which were returned to the House in which they originated, without the Executive 
approval. 

6. The Act to reduce the volume of the public debt, commonly called the Con- 
solidation Act, provides for the funding of the recognized debt of the State at one 
half its nominal value, in consolidation bonds and stocks The interest on the old 
debt, up to January i, 1874, was to be funded in like manner. The consolidation 
bonds and stocks, whenever issued, drew interest from January i, 1874, the first in- 
terest being payable July i, 1874. At the legislative session of 1874-75, an Act to 
declare the true intent and meaning of the Consolidation Act was passed. This Act 
amended the Consolidation Act so that the interest on the fundable debt .should be 
funded up to the time of the funding, instead of up to January i, 1874 ; and so that 
the consolidation bonds should bear interest from the time of their issue, instead of 
from January i, 1874. Governor Chamberlain vetoed the Act, in conformity with 
the declaration made in his Inaugural Message, that as the people of the State were 
apparently united in support of the settlement of the public debt which had been 
effected, " it must be regarded, so far as legislation and popular influence can go, as a 
final settlement." Governor Chamberlain, in his Veto Message (S. J. 1874-75, P- 77). 
took the broad ground that " the inevitable effect of any change whatever in the Con- 
solidation Act will be to unsettle the returning confidence of our creditors, and to 
seriously retard the completion of exchanging our public debt, which is so essential to 
all our prosperity." In declaring the Consolidation Act to be a final settlement, 
Governor Chamberlain, it must be noted, binds himself to maintain the rejection of 
the $5,965,000 of conversion bonds which, in the words of that Act, " were put upon 
the market without any authority of law, and are hereby declared to be absolutely 
null and void." The veto was sustained by a vote of 15 to 14 (less than two thirds 
in favor of passing the bill), and the Consolidation Act was not again disturbed. Of 
the fourteen Senators who voted to sustain the veto five were Democrats. 

7. During his term of office Governor Chamberlain has returned to the General 
Assembly, without his approval, seventeen Acts and Joint Resolutions. Twelve of 
these related to matters of a local or personal nature, and five were of such character 
as to affect the whole State. In every instance the veto of the Governor was sus- 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 29 1 

tained by the requisite vote, and this vote was cast by the Democrats and the better 
class of Republicans. 

Three of the local or personal measures were returned without approval because 
they were in conflict with the State Constitution ; two were returned on account of 
verbal inaccuracies ; one was returned because it would accomplish no practicable 
object whatever ; one was returned under a misapprehension caused by an imperfect 
examination of the legislative precedents in this State ; two were returned in defer- 
ence to the wishes of nine tenths of the citizens of the towns affected ; one (the Barn- 
well-Blackville bill) because it sought to settle the vexed question of the location of 
the county seat of Barnwell, then pending in the Supreme Court, and, by an appeal 
to the General Assembly, to deprive the people of the right to decide by local action 
their local controversies ; one was returned because the language of the Act defeated 
the intention of its framers, by preventing the levy of a tax which it sought to con- 
tinue ; one was returned because it proposed to require the payment in full of all 
claims against the County of Edgefield, audited and allowed by the County Commis- 
sioners prior to October 31, 1874, without further audit, the Governor contending that 
" to enact that such past indebtedness shall be paid in full, and without further ex- 
amination, is to add to the burden of injustice under which the people of many coun- 
ties are now groaning." This brief statement, by the way, will give the outside 
public some idea of the intelligence and wisdom of the South Carolina Legislature. 
The majority of the members of that body are, however, acute enough when there is 
money to be made by selling their votes, or when a reasonable and well-considered 
proposition, coming from a Democratic source, is ordered to be voted down. 

The vetoes of a general character were : i. Of the Act relative to the deposit of 
the moneys of the State. 2. Of the Act to provide for the settlement and redemption 
of certain claims against the State. 3. Of the Act to declare the true intent and 
meaning of the Consolidation Act. 4. Of the Act to raise supplies for the fiscal year 
commencing November i, 1875. 5. Of an Act to appropriate $30,000 of the phos- 
phate royalty to certain purposes. 

These five vetoes (excepting that relating to the Consolidation Act, which is noticed 
above) will be considered successively and in connection with the general subjects of the 
Solomon Bank failure, the Bonanza bills, and State taxation, to which they relate. They 
are cited here as evidence that Governor Chamberlain, not content with recommending 
reformatory legislation, unhesitatingly exerted the whole power of his office to defeat 
unwise or injurious legislation. Nor can the value of his services, in this respect, be 
determined by the bare enumeration of the bills and joint resolutions which he re- 
turned with his objections. Many a corrupt scheme died still-born because its pro- 
jectors knew that, when it had passed the turbulent House and loquacious Senate, it 
would encounter an irresistible veto. The Legislature of 1874-76 was fully as cor- 
rupt and demagogical as any of its predecessors. It did less injury to the body 
politic than was done by the Legislatures of Scott and Moses, only because, for the 
first time since Reconstruction, the Governor of the State could be relied on to strike 
down with his veto whatever rascally jobs the two Houses might pass, and because at 
the back of the Executive was a body of patriotic Democrats and staunch Republicans 
strong enough to prevent the overriding of a veto, although, unhappily, not powerful 
enough to secure the passage of the judicious, economic measures which they framed 
and introduced. 



292 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

[Fifth Article— July 9, 1S76.] 

8. THE SOLOMON BANK. 

S. The loss of money to the people of the State by the failure of the South Carolina 
Bank and Trust Company (the Solomon Bank) on July 2, 1S75, was over two hundred 
thousand dollars — equal to the proceeds of a tax oi one and a half per cent} upon the 
value of the taxable property in the State It is natural, therefore, that the failure 
should have attracted unwonted attention, especially as the Solomon Bank was re- 
garded as a semi-political concern, organized and carried on in the interest of the Radi- 
cal officials. Somebody was certainly to blame, inside or outside the bank, and that 
person, in the opinion of many excellent Democrats, is Governor Chamberlain. We 
shall see what the record shows. 

The General Assembly in March, 1875, passed a bill " relative to the deposit of 
the moneys of the State." This bill was intended to repeal the existing law, which 
imposed upon a Board of Deposit, composed of the Governor, the Comptroller Gen- 
eral, and the State Treasurer, the duty of selecting such banks for the deposit of State 
funds as shall be secure and pay the highest rate of interest. The new bill provided 
that all .State funds should be deposited in the Solomon Bank and the Carolina Na- 
tional Bank of Columbia. These two banks were made the exclusive depositories ; 
and no officer was authorized, for any reason, to change them. Even if the banks 
were obviously unsound or on the brink of bankruptcy, the public funds could not be 
removed, except by authority of the General Assembly. The disadvantages and dan- 
gers of such a bill were only too plain. It was, as was afterwards admitted, a job 
put up for the benefit of the Solomon Bank. Governor Chamberlain vetoed the bill, 
and in his message (S. J. 1874-75, P- ^09) said that the State had in hand nearly one 
million dollars in cash, distributed in three banks in Charleston and three in Colum- 
bia, with an aggregate capital of $2,300,000, and he ventured the opinion that "no 
man competent to care for his own funds would feel warranted in placing one hundred 
thousand dollars in each of the two banks designated in the present Act." Governor 
Chamberlain distinctly disclaimed any intention to reflect upon the character or man- 
agement of the designated banks, and his objections were specifically directed to the 
system proposed. On the question of passing the bill, notwithstanding the objections 
of the Governor, the vote in the Senate was. Yeas 18, Nays I2 ; and the bill, failing 
to receive the necessary two-thirds vote, was lost. Of the twelve votes sustaining the 
veto, five were cast by Democrats. 

In less than three months after the rejection of the bill, which would have placed 
in its coffers half a million of money, the Solomon Bank closed its doors. Governor 
Chamberlain was absent from the State, but in the following December, in response 
to a resolution of the House, he gave that body (H. J. 1S75-76, p. 234) such informa- 
tion as he had concerning the bank. In this report or message Governor Chamber- 
lain says that soon after his installation he became satisfied that the State deposits 
ought not to be kept in any one bank in Columbia or elsewhere ; that since 1870 the 
Solomon Bank had virtually been the sole depositoiy, and had had on hand at one 
lime as much as $1,400,000 ; that Treasurer Cardozo, and no other person connected 
with the State Government, agreed with him in his unwillingness to continue the Solo- 
mon Bank as the sole depository. He called, he said, a meeting of the Board of De- 

' Evidently an error for one and a half viills. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 293 

posit, and laid before them his views. The friends of the Solomon Bank vehemently op- 
posed the proposed change, giving assurance that the bank was strong, and showing that 
it had not suspended payment in the panic of 1873, 3-nd that in four years the State had 
not lost a dollar that had been entrusted to its keeping. Governor Chamberlain, as he 
shows, insisted that the deposits in the Solomon Bank should not exceed $200,000. 
Treasurer Cardozo made no opposition to this. Judge Hoge, then Comptroller Gen- 
eral, unequivocally opposed any change unfavorable to the Solomon Bank. This was 
in the winter of 1874-75. Subsequently the Board met again, and three banks in 
Charleston and one additional bank in Columbia, making, with the Solomon Bank 
and the Carolina National Bank, six banks in all, were designated as depositories. 
This was the condition of affairs when the bill to make the Solomon Bank and the 
Carolina National Bank the sole depositories was vetoed. At the time of the veto, 
Governor Chamberlain had, he says, no knowledge of the affairs of the Solomon 
Bank in addition to that upon which he had acted in January, when he insisted on in- 
creasing the number of the depositories ; and that from that time up to the failure of 
the bank, no proposition or advice was tendered to him, from any source, for any 
change of the State deposits. 

It is evident that Governor Chamberlain was right in insisting, in the winter of 
1874-75, that the number of depasitories should be increased, and that his objections 
to the bill to make two banks the exclusive depositories were sound and conclusive. 
But in April, 1875, after the veto of the new bill, the deposits in the Solomon Bank 
were increased to $200,000, and Governor Chamberlain's consent to this increase blot- 
ted out, for a time at least, the recollection of the prudent action of the winter and 
early spring. We find in this action nothing inconsistent with Governor Chamber- 
lain's previous conclusions. It is true that he was not disposed to put more than 
$100,000 in the Solomon Bank ; but it showed large assets, and was apparently sound, 
and there was no reason to believe that $200,000 would not be safe. In his sworn 
testimony before the Legislative Committee (R. and R. 1875-76, p. 921) he said that 
he understood and believed, in the January before the failure, that the bank had 
from $200,000 to $300,000 surplus, and that at the time he left the State (June 25th), 
he had no doubts as to the solvency of the bank, or fears as to the State deposits. 
Treasurer Cardozo, the arch-opponent of the Solomon Bank, testified before the same 
committee that he was surprised at the failure and at the amount the bank failed for. 
Comptroller General Dunn testified that at the April meeting of the Board of Deposit 
he "was willing to vote for $250,000 being left in the bank " (R. and R. 1875-76, p. 
915) and that he had no reason to doubt the solvency of the bank. And the Legisla- 
tive Committee, in the majority report, which is signed by Senators Duncan and Ward, 
say that there "was $163,000 on deposit in the Solomon Bank in April, 1875, when 
the action of the Board was taken, so that the actual authorized increase ^3.% $37,000," 
and they report that ' ' there is nothing in the facts discovered which necessarily shows 
that the Board or any members thereof had any knowledge of the instability of the 
bank, or is censurable for not having determined its true condition." Again they 
say : " In the light of subsequent events it would have been better if a scrutiny had 
been instituted into the standing of the bank ; but no facts had at that time been de- 
veloped which would fairly prove the absence of such investigation to have been cul- 
pable." Join to this the fact that if the sworn statement of its affairs made in January 
w.Ts correct, $156,000 of money was made away with, under tlie name of legislative 



294 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

expenses and stock retired, by the Solomon Bank between January and July, 1875, 
and the failure of the concern is easily accounted for. Indeed, the Legislative Com- 
mittee say that " during tlie ten days immediately preceding the failure, Mr. Solomon 
was studiously and skilfully at work in so manipulating the affairs of the bank as that 
he might reaj^ the largest practicable harvest, while the impending catastrophe was 
being made correspondingly disastrous to the creditors." 

The weight of evidence is clearly in favor of Governor Chamberlain. We have 
seen that he would not allow the Solomon Bank to continue to be the sole depositoiy, 
as it had been for four years ; that he vetoed and defeated the bill to make two banks, 
including the Solomon Bank, the exclusive depositories ; that he caused six banks, in- 
stead of one or two, to be designated as public depositories. This is indisputable ; 
and half a million at least, instead of $200,000, would have been exposed to loss, had 
Governor Chamberlain remained quiescent, or failed to veto the amendatory bill. 
Such conduct as his is irreconcilable with any other hypothesis than that he was 
unwilling to leave with the bank a dollar more than appeared to be perfectly safe. 
Comptroller Dunn would have consented to a deposit of $250,000, and Treasurer 
Cardozo did not fear an early failure or for a large amount. This suffices to show that 
if there was an error, it was purely an error of judgment, which Governor Chamber- 
lain shared with his colleagues in the Board, and which cannot, in the light of his 
previous action, be turned to his disadvantage. Governor Chamberlain is not by any 
means the only officer who has consented in good faith to the deposit of money in an 
institution which proved to be rotten to the core ; and in every such case there must 
be proof of wanton negligence, or the officer cannot be held even morally responsible 
for the loss that follows. Such proof, as is shown, is conspicuously absent in the 
record of the dealings of Governor Chamberlain with the Solomon Bank. 



[Sixth Article — July 12, 1876.] 

THE BONANZA BILL — lO. THE TAX LAWS. 

9. One of the most embarrassing legacies of the Administrations of Scott and Moses 
was what Governor Chamberlain describes as " the unpaid balance of the certificates 
issued, during the last four years, under the guise of legislative expenses of various 
kinds." He said : 

" That certificates for legislative expenses have been made the cover for vast frauds, 
no man will dispute. They are universally regarded as the last culminating evidences 
of a prevailing system of corruption which has disgraced our State and offended the 
nation. Since the regular session of the General Assembly for 1870-71 the State had 
paid, prior to the present session, on account of legislative expenses, the vast sum of 
$1,661,000. According to tlie registry already made by the Clerks of the two Houses, 
under a recent resolution of the General Assembly, there are still outstanding claims 
to the amount of $883,000, of which amount over $500,000 consists of claims for 
legislative expenses." 

In thiswise, in his message of Marchl7, 1875 (H. J. 1874-75, P^ge 663), Governor 
Chamberlain speaks of the floating indebtedness of the State, made up of legislative pay 
certificates, treasurer's due bills, and bills payable and claims passed by the General 
Assembly. The members of the Legislature were largely interested in these claims, 
for themselves or their friends ; it was certain that they would, as in previous sessions, 
be ordered for payment, if the ]iroper inducements were furnished the legislative 



A DM IN IS TKA TION. 295 

branch of the government. Between the holders and the treasury stood the Executive 
and the Executive veto ! No other protection, short of revolution, could the taxpayers 
hope to find. 

In his first Annual Message (S. J. 1874-75, P^ge 206) Governor Chamberlain vi^arned 
the General Assembly that the legal validity of a large part of the floating indebtedness 
was " more than doubtful, and the meritorious character of a still larger part may be 
well disputed." So much of the indebtedness "as had the character of legal and 
moral validity " he regarded as a part of the public burden which must be assumed ; 
but he declared himself " inflexibly opposed to the hasty or present liquidation of any 
considerable portion of this indebtedness." This decisive language had a perceptible 
effect upon the claim holders ; and Governor Chamberlain, as the easiest and safest 
mode of settlement that could be devised, consented to a plan which embraced (i) the 
appointment by the Governor of a Commission of three, with power to audit all 
claims, and to reject any claim in whole or in part ; (2) the reduction of all approved 
claims to one half of their nominal value ; (3) the payment of the claims, when thus 
reduced, in four equal instalments. Such a measure was accordingly framed by the 
House, but the Senate amended it by inserting the names of the three Commissioners. 
The House, when the bill was returned to it, changed the Commission, and the Senate 
concurred in the change. The bill was sent to the Governor, and was vetoed by him 
on March 17, 1875. In this Veto Message, from which we have already quoted. 
Governor Chamberlain explains the character of the floating indebtedness and the 
necessity of protecting the people against the payment of fraudulent claims. Apart 
from other objections, a fatal objection to the bill was that the Commission named in 
it did not, "as a whole," command the confidence of the Governor or the public. 
The Governor said : "The duties required of the Commission demand the highest 
character for intelligence, honor, and capability which the State can furnish. By no 
fault or agency of mine, I am forced to declare that, in my judgment, the Commission 
named in the Act does not meet that demand." 

Speaker Elliott ruled that the Act had become a law without the Executive 
approval, not having been returned to the House in which it originated within the 
time prescribed by the Constitution. This ruling was sustained by the Supreme 
Court, and the Legislature were jubilant at having defeated the Governor. They were 
ready, with the Commission of their own choosing, to make the Act a true " Bonanza," 
the suggestive name by which the bill was commonly known. Governor Chamberlain, 
however, took the case up on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, and 
the " Bonanza " men, appalled by the prospect of waiting two or three years for a deci- 
sion as likely as not to be unfavorable, passed, at the session of 1875-76, a new 
" Bonanza " bill, giving the appointment of the Commission to the Governor, and free 
from the objections urged against the former Act. This " Bonanza" bill (the "big 
Bonanza ") was approved by the Governor, and, the Commission having been ap- 
pointed, is in successful operation. The Commission appointed came fully up to the 
standard insisted on in the Veto Message. They are men " whose circumstances and 
associations do not excite the faintest doubt of their inflexible determination to stand 
as an insurmountable barrier to the further advance of corruption and fraud." They 
are " a Commission whose character and ability make the examination of the claims 
a work of searching vigilance and unquestionable honesty." 

Thus, after a year of constant effort. Governor Chamberlain succeeded in saving to 



296 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN' S 

the people over $400,000, by scaling the floating indebtedness to one half its nominal 
value, besides the huge saving which will result from the rejection of illegal claims. 
Every claim which has the " character of legal and moral validity," will undoubtedly 
be allowed by the Commission ; but the mass of tainted claims will be branded on 
their face as fraudulent. Already many of the larger claim holders, fearing the 
scrutiny to which their ceBtificates will be subjected, seek to evade the law and to set 
aside the rules of the Commission. Than this no better evidence can be had of the 
character of their claims, and of the wisdom of the law that subjects them, before 
payment, to a sifting which quickly separates the valid debt, for services rendered, 
from the fictitious certificates which, in the days of Moses, filled the pocketbooks of 
every hanger-on or favorite of the junta who ruled this State. 

10. In his Inaugural Address (H.J. 1874-75, page 51) Governor Chamberlain, dis- 
cussing the character of the laws under which property is assessed for taxation, 
declared that " the people demand, and have a right to demand, that property shall 
be valued for taxation at its true money value, as nearly as the imperfection of the 
human judgment will permit." He said : " My examination of the Act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of March 17, 1874, commonly called the Assessment and Taxation Act, 
leads me to recommend that a full revision of that Act be made by some appropriate 
means by the General Assembly, at this session, in conjunction with the Comptroller 
General, in order to remove inconsistencies and supply defects now apparent in the 
law." This recommendation, for a wonder, was acted on, and in his Annual Message 
of November 23, 1875, Governor Chamberlain says ; 

" The tax laws of the State are now, in my judgment, well adapted to secure, in the 
language of the Constitution, ' equality and uniformity ' in the assessment of property 
for taxation." Furtlier, he said : " While there are, no doubt, individual instances 
of error and harship in the present valuation, yet, so far as my information extends, 
the general result is as fair as can reasonably be expected. If the individual taxpayer 
will avail himself of the means afforded by the present laws for his protection against 
unequal or excessive assessments, I think the instances will be very rare in which 
injustice will be finally done." 

The assessment of property for taxation at far more than its market value had been 
a crying evil in the State. Instances were known where property which had rather 
declined than advanced in value since the purchase, was assessed at twice or thrice 
what it cost the taxpayer, and in every quarter of the State there was an outcry against 
the assessments. This wrong has in general been remedied, and, besides, ample and 
liberal provision has been made for the redemption of lands forfeited to the State at 
delinquent tax sales. The extent of the reduction of the assessed value of real and 
personal property, for purposes of taxation, in this State, is shown in the subjoined 
memorandum, which gives the total valuation in each year, together with the amount 
of a tax of one per cent, on the total valuation in each year : 

Valuation. One per cettt. tax. 

1869 $168,434,553 $1,684,345 

1870 183,913,367 1,839.133 

1872 145,585,428 1,455,854 

1873 166,234,869 1,662,348 

1874 131,738,375 1,317.383 

1875 134,968,224 1,349,682 

Such has been, in the past five years, the reduction in the assessed value of 
property that a tax of one per cent, takes from the i>eople, at the present valuation,. 



ADMJNISTRA TION. 2g7 

less than a tax of three quarters per cent, would take, on the basis of the valuation of 
1870. In the past two years the gain, by the revision and reduction of the assessment, 
is equal to a saving of twenty per cent. Even if the rate of taxation were the same, 
the actual burden upon the taxpayers, at the reduced valuation, would be one fifth less, 
than in 1873. 



[Seventh Article — July 13, 1876.] 

II. CONTINGENT FUNDS — 12. LEGISLATIVE EXPENCES — 13. CONTINGENT LEGISLATIVE 

EXPENCES. 

II. Secret funds, otherwise known as contingent funds, played an important part 
in South Carolina politics during the six years succeeding the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion of 1868. They were lielieved to be applied, in great part, to the personal uses 
of the officers entrusted with their disbursement, and the system of creating such 
funds undoubtedly encouraged improvidence and waste where it did not end in down- 
right stealing. With this abuse Governor Chamberlain grappled in his Inaugural Ad- 
dress (H. J. 1874-75, pa-ge 52), saying : " I do not hesitate to characterize the whole 
system of contingent funds which has recently sprung up, as wrong in principle and 
mischievous and demoralizing in effect." During six years there had been appropri- 
ated and paid for contingent funds the " astounding sum of $376,832 74," and Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain ventured the opinion that " the State would have received equal] 
benefit from one fifth of that sum, if expended with economy upon proper objects." 

" Some governments [he said] deem it necessary to entrust certain officers with a 
fund commonly called the ' secret service,' which may be expended for objects which 
might be defeated by publicity. I confess I am wholly unable to imagine any such 
objects in South Carolina. I think the people of the State should be able to trace 
every dollar of the public funds to the precise object on which it is expended. This 
cannot be done under our present system of contingent funds." 

He recommended, therefore, that the appropriation of contingent funds be wholly 
discontinued ; that distinct appropriations be made for all public objects which can 
be anticipated or enumerated ; that $10,000 or $12,000 be appropriated for contingent 
expenses, to be paid upon the warrant of the Comptroller General, drawn upon ( 
vouchers to be filed by the officers obtaining the warrant. In this way the records of .' 
the expenditure of the fund would be open always to examination and publication. 

In his second Annual Message (H. J. 1875-76, page 7) Governor Chamberlain said ; 
"The intolerable abuses of former years in connection with contingent funds have 
been in a great degree removed. But the gain to public morality and economy is still 
greater, when we consider the fact that all Executive contingent funds have been 
drawn during the past year on vouchers approved by, and filed with, the Comptroller 
General. Accountability and publicity, the two chief safeguards of official integrity, 
have thus been secured." 

Well might the Executive congratulate the people ! For the year 1875-76 the, 
entire appropriations for the contingent funds of Executive officers, including the ex- ' 
penses of the Supreme Court and the litigation fund of $3,000 for the Attorney Gen- 
eral, were $9,100. We will compare this with similar appropriations in previous. 
years : 



298 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

For the fiscal year 1S72-73 (Acts 1872-73, page 409), the ap- 
propriations were ........ $47,000 

For the .fiscal year 1873-74 (Acts 1873-74, page 612) . . 41,100 



For two years 



Annual average ........ $44,050 

For the contingent expenses of the Executive Departments for 
the fiscal year 1874-75 (Acts 1874-75, page 885) the appro- 
priations M'ere ......... $15,250 

For the fiscal year 1875-76 (Acts 1875-76, page 98) the appro- 
priations were . ........ 9,100 



For two years ........ $24,350 



Annual average ........ $12,175 

The saving in two years, therefore, amounted to $63,750. This was directly and 
individually the work of Governor Chamberlain ; and when we remember that Moses 
applied his cgijtingenjjjind^o the purchase of a controllingjnterest in a party organ, 
and that equally disreputable uses of the fund were suspected, if not established, we 
can well see that, while tlie reduction of public expenses is not inconsiderable, " the 
gain to official morality, by the removal of opportunity for questionable uses of pub- 
lic funds, will be great." 

12. The pay of the members of the South Carolina Legislature was formerly six 
dollars a day and mileage ; it now is $600 a year and mileage — not an inconsiderable 
sum considering that the upright and sagacious gentlemen who served the State, in the 
same capacity, before the war, did not receive, on an average, more than $100 a ses- 
sion. But the payments for salary and mileage form only a small part of the cost of 
the South Carolina Legislature in post-Reconstruction days. The host of attaches, or 
" snatchees " as they call themselves, the numerous committees with their hired rooms 
and luxurious furniture, and a thousand and one other expenses, large and small, swell 
the total expenses to an almost incredible amount. In his Inaugural Address, Gover- 
nor Chamberlain called attention to the urgent necessity of reducing legislative 
expenses. 

"Since 1868 |he said] six regular and two special sessions of the General 
eral Assembly have been held. The total cost of these sessions has been $2,147,- 
430 97. The average cost of each regular session has been $320,405 10. The 
lowest cost of any regular session was that of the regular session of 1868-69, amount- 
ing to $169,005 79 ; and the highest cost was that of the regular session of 1871-72, 
amounting to about $617,234 10. Besides the amounts now specified there are out- 
standing of bills payable, issued on account of legislative expenses, during the same 
period, $192,275 15. . . . The public, within and without the State, have united 
in pronouncing the expenditures heretofore made, for legislative expenses, an intolera- 
ble abuse." 

The General Assembly, lashed by public opinion, relinquished a part of the spoils. 
In his second Annual Message (H. J. 1875-76, page 7) the Governor said : 

" I have the satisfaction of saying that great advances have been made during the 
past year. Tlie entire appropriation for legislative expenses for the fiscal year was 
$150,000. Tlie appropriation under this head for the preceding year was $190,000. 
. . . In honorable contrast with former years, it should also be mentioned that 
no obligations have been issued or incurred by the officers of the General Assembly, 
•during the past year, in excess of the appropriations made." 



ADMINISTRATION. 299 

The concrete value of the "great advances " noticed by Governor Chamberlain 
will now be shown. For the fiscal year 1875-76 (Acts 1875-76, p. 5) the entire appro- 
priation for legislative expenses was $140,000, being $10,000 less than in 1874-75, 
$50,000 less than in 1873-74, and $180,000 less than the annual average of the six 
preceding years. 

The following appropriations for legislative expenses were made during the term 
of office of Governor Moses : 

Acts 1872-73, page 307 $ 75, 000 

Acts 1872-73, page 321 ....... 135,000 

Acts 1873-74, page 491 ....... 75,000 

Acts 1873-74, page 613 190,000 



Total $475,000 

The following appropriations, for the same purposes, were made during the term 
of Governor Chamberlain : 

Acts 1874-75, page 821 $150,000 

Acts 1875-76, page 5 ....... . 140,000 



Total $290,000 

Being a saving to the public, in two years, of $185,000, or a reduction from an 
annual average i^cost of $237,500, under Moses, to $145,000 under Chamberlain. 
These figures need no comment. 

13. The next reform insisted on by Governor Chamberlain was a reduction of the 
legislative contingent expenses, and a change in their manner of payment. Not less 
than $190,000 had been expended for legislative contingent expenses at each regular 
session. The payments were made upon the bare certificate of officers of the two 
Houses, and no sufficient scrutiny or audit was had. As one remedy for the grievance 
Governor Chamberlain recommended that all payments be made upon duly audited and 
accepted vouchers, filed with the Comptroller General, and forever exposed in his office 
to the examination of the public. In this, as in the matter of Executive contingent 
funds and ordinary legislative expenses, the object of the Governor was to enforce ' ' a 
proper system of accountability." More than a year later, in his second Annual Mes- 
sage, Governor Chamberlain renewed his recommendations. In this Message he 
avowed his conviction of the correctness of the views expressed in his Inaugural 
Address, and said : 

" It is a proposition which no one can dispute, that a permanent public, accessible 
record should be kept of the disbursement of every dollar of the public funds. It is 
equally undeniable that all accounts calling for the expenditure of public funds should 
be audited by some officer who is officially responsible for the performance of this 
duty. The present method of payment of legislative accounts does not meet these 
requirements of good administration." 

In illustration of the evil opportunities of the existing plan, he said : 

" I have personal knowledge that in one instance, at least, a certificate for the 
payment of a claim passed by the General Assembly was issued at the last session, 
and both this certificate and the original claim were left in the hands of the person 
who presented the claim. Both these demands, the claim certificate and the original 
claim, were payable by the Treasurer without further examination, and thus this de- 
mand might have been twice paid, without fault on the part of the Treasurer." 



300 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The General Assembly were prevailed upon to pass " An Act to provide the man- 
ner of proving claims against the State (Acts 1875-76, p. 157), which fully embodies the 
suggestions of the Governor as to the passage and payment of claims ; and an Act 
was passed (Acts 1S75-76, p. 91) which covered the Governor's recommendations as to 
the payment of legislative expenses. On the second reading of the bill an attempt 
was made so to amend it as to exclude from its operation all legislative accounts ; 
but this move was only partly successful, as an examination of the Act shows that the 
payment of all legislative contingent accounts must be made, as recommended, on the 
warrants of the Comptroller General. Nor was this the only positive reform accom- 
plished. The appropriations for legislative contingent expenses for the year 1875-76 
(Acts 1875-76, p. 8) were $12,000; and for the year 1874-75 (Acts 1874-75, P- 823) were 
$13,000, making a total of $25,000, or $12,500 a year, being a saving, as compared 
with the average appropriations of the preceding six years, of $178,500 a year. 

Gov. Chamberlain earnestly urged the Legislature to reduce the length of the ses- 
sion, contending that a session of thirty days was sufficient for every proper purpose. 
The Legislature took no notice whatever of this recommendation, and the last session 
was the longest ever known in the history of the State, having continued for one 
hundred and forty-four days. It is demonstrated, however, that, apart from the salu- 
tary legislation regulating the passage of claims and the payment of contingent funds 
and contingent legislative expenses, an astonishing reduction was made in the expenses 
of the government under the three classes of appropriations just examined. Taking 
the average annual cost for the six years ending in 1874 as : Contingent funds $62,805, 
Legislative expenses $320,405, Legislative contingent expenses $190,000, we find that 
the reduction, in the two years of the present administration, is as follows : 

Contingent funds ........ $101,260 

Legislative expenses ........ 350,810 

Legislative contingent ........ 355, 000 



Retrenchment in two years ...... $807,070 

This enormous saving is unquestionably due to the exertions and influence of Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain, for the recommendations came from him, and no such retrench- 
ment was accomplished or attempted by his predecessors. 



[Eighth Article— July 14, 1S76.] 

XIV. PUBLIC PRINTING — XV. SALARIES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. 

14. Very few persons in South Carolina have any idea of the extent of the plundering 
that has been done by State officials since 1868 under the cover of public printing. The 
I extent of the "gratifications" so supplied to members of the State Government will 
'probably never be known, and the public must content themselves with the assurance 
that all^JhejDrofits of the printing contracts did not go into the coffers of the Repub- 
lican Printing^ompany. A " gratification " to a Governor was, at times, as necessary 
as a " gratification " to a Comptroller who drew the warrants, or a Treasurer who paid 
out the money. The Republican Printing Company is tlie very centre of legislative 
intrigue, and its sole stockholders, the Clerks of the two Houses, have more jiowerand 
influence than a group of Senators or a crowd of Representatives. 

A few statistics (H. J. 1S74-75, p. 55) will show wliat public printing cost the State 



ADMINISTRATION. 3OI 

prior to the installation of Governor Chamberlain. From 1868 to 1874 the cost of the 
permanent and current printing was $843,073. The cost of advertising the statistics 
for the same period was $261,496, making a total cost of $1,104,569. There was, in- 
deed, a steady increase in the demands of the public printers. Of the $1,104,569 
spent in the six years ending in 1874, no less than $918,629 were absorbed in 1872, 
1873, and 1874. For these three years the average cost of printing and advertising 
was $306,209 a year ! These figures are appalling. 

Governor Chamberlain, in his Inaugural Address, offered no comments upon such 
statistics as we have given. " The only appropriate inquiry is," he said, "how shall 
such results be prevented hereafter ? I answer by exterminating the present system, 
root and branch, and substituting a safe and economical system." The Governor rec- 
ommended that the necessary public printing be done by contract, for a fixed price, 
the most advantageous offer to the State being accepted. The Act of 1873-74, " to 
regulate the public printing," could not, he said, accomplish any good result, since 
the amount of work required to be done could not be estimated by the bidder. When 
the Act was passed the News and Courier pointed out that any bidder who was not in 
the ring could, if he received the contract, be ruined by the requirement that he do 
more work than he had calculated on, the Act requiring that all the printing of the 
General Assembly, the quantity not stated, should be done for a fixed price. 

The first effect of these recommendations was the reduction of the appropriation 
for public printing to $50,000 a year, and in his second Annual Message of November 
23, 1875, Governor Chamberlain, commending the reduction that had been made, 
again urged that the work " be thrown open to the lowest bidder, under such regula- 
tions as will secure fair and open competition, and the faithful performance of the 
proposals thus received." And on February 2, 1876, Governor Chamberlain appeared 
before the Committee of Ways and Means of the House, and, among other things, 
said : " The printing contract will expire with this year, and all the printing needed 
by the State can easily be contracted for by responsible parties for $25,000." A bill 
embodying the suggestions as to advertising for proposals was subsequently introduced / 
in the House. It was referred to the Committee on Printing, who reported back, as 
might have been expected, a substitute in which the most important provisions of the 
original bill was modified. It was an improvement, however, on the present law. 
The House passed the substitute, and it went to the Senate, which struck out the pro- 
visions which made its passage desirable. Owing to the sudden adjournment of the 
General Assembly, the bill failed to become a law, and it is assumed that the public 
printing will cost the State, for the next two years, $50,000 a year, under the old law. 

The reduction in the cost of public printing during Governor Chamberlain's term 
is from an annual average of $306,209 to $50,000 a year. Net saving in two years, 
$512,418. 

15. No matter of reform has been advocated by Governor Chamberlain more ear- 
nestly and persistently than the reduction of the salaries of public officers. In his 
messages to the General Assembly, in conferences, speeches, and conversations, he 
has urged this reduction as a measure of vital importance to which the Republican 
party was solemnly pledged. In his Inaugural Address he said he would give his hearty 
support to any plan that would reduce expenses by abolishing offices or cutting dowri 
salaries. The subject received his personal attention as soon as he was installed, 
and a bill embodying in many respects the result of his investigations was introduced in 



302 , GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the House (H. J. 1874-75, P- 284), and passed in a modified form. When it reached 
the Senate it was referred to the Committee on Finance, and pigeon-holed by that body 
for the rest of the session. In a letter to Senator Nash, Chairman of the Finance 
Committee, dated February 5, 1875, he pointed out specifically what reductions could 
be made in the salaries of public officers without the slightest detriment to the public 
service. Both the Finance Committee and the Senate disregarded these recommenda- 
tions, passed the appropriation bill without any important reduction, and took no 
action upon the salary bill. The bill which thus hung fire in the Senate effected a 
reduction in salaries of about $30,000 a year, and in his second Annual Message Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain once more advised the Senate to pass it. In his message vetoing 
the supply bill of 1875-76 (H. J. 1875-76, p. 35), he showed how the expenditures for 
salaries and contingent expenses could be still further reduced, citing the fact that of 
an appropriation of $3,000 for the contingent expenses of the Executive office, $247 
remained unexpended at the end of the year, while under former administrations an 
appropriation of $25,000 for the same purpose was considered wholly insufficient. 
Again, in a Message to the General Assembly, dated January 27, 1S76, he urged, in 
the most forcible language, the passage of the salary bill, as a means of preventing 
the immense deficiencies that were imminent. He showed that a large reduction was 
compatible with the efficiency of the public service ; that it was demanded by the 
wants of the people, as well as by their expectations, and declared that, although his 
own salary is protected by the Constitution, he would submit to as great a reduction as 
might be made in other salaries. " A reduction of one third of the present salaries," 
he said, " would not, in my judgment, be too great." At the same time he suggested 
that the salaries of Circuit Solicitors be abolished ; that the salaries of School Com- 
missioners be reduced one half, and that the pay of County Treasurers and Auditors be 
so arranged as to increase the resources of the State, while reducing the pay of those 
officers. The appropriation bill was under consideration by the General Assembly 
when this Message of the Governor was presented. The further discussion of this bill 
was postponed for a day or two, and it was then taken up and passed without the 
slighest change of the character recommended. 

After weeks and months of delay the Finance Committee of the Senate reported 
back the salary bill, with the recommendation that the salaries of every public officer 
be reduced according to a fixed percentage, without reference to the duties performed 
by such officers or to the public necessities. The bill, as amended, passed the Senate, 
and became a law ; but the only feature that gave it immediate value, viz., that the 
bill should take effect from the beginning of the fiscal year 1875-76, was carefully 
stricken out. As passed, the bill will go into operation next November. 

' Having failed, after resorting to every means within his power to effect an imme- 
diate reduction of the salaries of public officers. Governor Chamberlain now directed 
his efforts to securing greater reductions of salaries than were provided for in the salary 
bill, as it finally passed. He accordingly went before the Committee of Ways and 
Means of the House, on February 2, 1876, and reminded them that the Republican 
party was pledged, by its platform, to reduce salaries and dispense with unnecessary 
offices. He said that " the voice of duty to a tax-burdened and impoverished people 
demanded that we should practise that economy which the hard times had forced upon 
them," and he insisted, as Governor, that the pledges of practical reform be carried 
out. The Governor then read an itemized statement of the reductions that, in his 



ADMINISTRA TION. 303 

judgment, were imperative, and advised prompt action upon them. A bill covering 
these reductions was at once introduced in the House, and passed that body, and was 
sent to tlie Senate. There it received its first reading, and remains upon the calendar 
awaiting the accidents of the coming session. Thus, after all his efforts, the only tan- 
gible result accomplished was a saving of about $30,000 in the salaries to be paid in 
the next fiscal year. The General Assembly heard, but did not heed, the counsel of 
the Executive. Alternately the Senate and the House gave the cold shoulder to his 
recommendations, and, between the two, every important proposition looking to a 
reduction of salaries fell quickly to the ground. 



[Ninth Article— July 15, 1876.] 

16. TAXATION — 17. DEFICIENCIES— 18. COUNTY FINANCES. 

16. The bill to raise supplies forthe fiscal year commencing November i, 1875, was 
passed in the last hours of the session of 1874-75. This bill levied for State purposes 
the enormous tax of thirteen mills. Unexampled political and personal pressure was 
put upon Governor Chamberlain, but he declined to approve the bill, and at the be- 
ginning of the session of 1875-76 returned it with his veto. In the veto message Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain (H. J. 1875-76, p. 31) recommended that the taxes for current ex- 
penses, and for claims against the State and other indebtedness, be raised by separate 
Acts. Insisting that the entire tax for the current expenses should be reduced below 
one per cent.. Governor Chamberlain showed how this could be done. Among other 
things he advised, that the payment of past indebtedness be distributed over a term 
of years, the object being, in view of the poverty of the people, to reduce the rate of 
immediate taxation. 

The veto of the thirteen-mill tax bill was unanimously sustained by the House of 
Representatives. A bill was then passed levying a tax of nine and a half mills for cur- 
rent expenses, and a bill (the " little Bonanza ") was passed levying a tax of one mill 
for the payment of deficiencies of the preceding fiscal year. These levies, with a levy 
of one half mill in the Act to provide for the payment of claims against the State (the 
" big Bonanza"), made the total tax for State purposes eleven mills. On a basis of 
$120,000,000 of taxable property, this levy would raise $1,320,000. Upon the same 
basis the tax levied by the bill which was vetoed, and by the big Bonanza bill, would 
have raised $1,620,000. By the veto of the thirteen-mill tax bill, therefore. Governor 
Chamberlain relieved the taxpayers this year of a burden of $300,000, which, in the 
absence of that veto, they would, at any cost, have been forced to pay. 

This gratifying result was reached, as we have shown, by enforcing the reduction 
of the tax levy. There will be heavy deficiencies this year, as is known, but these de- 
ficiencies are caused by the persistent refusal of the General Assembly to reduce the 
expenditures to the level of the known and fixed revenue of the State, and by the fail- 
ure of the Legislature to provide any mode of absorbing the bills of the Bank of the 
State, the receivabiiity of which for taxes is established and cannot be evaded. For 
these shortcomings Governor Chamberlain cannot be held responsible ; and it should 
be borne in mind that, whatever the deficiencies may be, the taxpayers are, to the full 
amount of those deficiencies, the gainers in the present year, and that they have a pos- 
itive and lasting benefit in such reductions of expenses as were, as shown in previous 
articles, actually secured. 



304 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

17. Upon the subject of deficiencies, already alluded to, the record of Governor 
Chamberlain is clear and unmistakable. In all of his official communications to the 
General Assembly, relating to the State finances, the Governor has denounced de- 
ficiencies as an intolerable abuse, and has vehemently urged their abolition by keeping 
the expenditures within the income. In his Inaugural Address he showed that the 
deficiencies for 1874 were $472,619, and for 1873 were $540,328, and advised that 
"the amount of money should first be ascertained, and then a levy should be made, 
adequate to raise that amount." In his first Annual Message he said : " The appro- 
priations from the proceeds of the levies made should never be allowed to exceed, by a 
single dollar, the estimate of the amount of such proceeds." Again, on February 5, 
1875, in a letter to the Finance Committee of the Senate, he said : " We can never 
reform the chief abuses of our past administration of this State Government, unless 
we pay heed to the rule of making our expenditures fall within our income. " What 
effect did these exhortations have ? 

The tax levy for 1874-75 was made at the session of 1873-74, and the General 
Assembly were in possession of an accurate estimate of what that levy would realize. 
Nevertheless, appropriations were made for the fiscal year which were $180,000 in 
■excess of the possible receipts. To this deficiency must be added the loss by the Solo- 
mon Bank failure which (H. J. 1875-76, p. 33) made the total deficiency for 1874-75 
(H. J. 1875-76, p. 33) no less than $308,872. The General Assembly (H. J. 1874-75, P- 
34) were called upon to levy a tax to pay $249,303 of this deficiency. Notwithstand- 
ing, however, the loss by the Solomon Bank, which could not have been anticipated, 
the deficiencies for 1874-75 were $291,024 less than the deficiencies of 1872-73, arid 
$223,315 less than the deficiencies of 1873-74. This is some improvement, but there 
would have been no deficiency, except that arising from the failure of the Solomon 
Bank, had the advice of the Governor been followed. That advice, in brief, was : 
I. Reduce expenses to the lowest possible point. 2. Levy a tax sufficient to pay the 
expenses. 

18. In his Annual Message of January, 1875, Governor Chamberlain exposed the 
condition of the county finances, urged that the passed indebtedness of the counties be 
gradually paid by tax levies distributed over two or more years, and, to prevent future 
•deficiencies, recommended that the system of specific levies be applied to county taxes. 
He advised also (H. J. 1875-76, p. 13) that claims against the counties be properly 
audited before payment, and be submitted, where practicable, to judicial scrutiny. 
That the improvement in the fiscal condition of the counties is less than was desired 
is not the fault of the Executive. 

We have now scrutinized, as we undertook to do, the several promises and recom- 
mendations contained in the addresses and messages of Governor Chamberlain. It 
remains only to summarize the results of the investigation. 



[Tenth Article— July 18, 1876.] 

A SUMMARY. 

We have scrutinized, one by one, the most important pledges and recommenda- 
tions contained in the addresses and messages of Governor Chamberlain since his 
election, and we now briefly sum up the result of the investigations we have made. 

We find that many, if not most, of the urgent and repeated recommendations of the 



ADMINISTRA TION. 305 

Governor were disregarded by the Radical Legislature. That body refused to test, 
even in cities and towns, the wise and beneficent system of minority representation ; 
it refused to provide, as required by the Constitution, for the election of Justices of 
the Peace and Constables by the people, and for the registration of Electors ; it failed 
to shorten the length of the sessions ; it declined to provide a mode of gradually ab- 
sorbing the bills of the Bank of the State, and did not reduce the public expenditures 
to the level of the known revenue of the State. Bills covering these different measures 
of reform were submitted to the Legislature, and were pigeon-holed in committee- 
rooms, or squarely voted down. The blunders thxis committed were, in a party sense, 
worse than crimes. Out of the folly and neglect of the Legislature, combined with 
its rascality and ignorance, grew the deficiencies which this year embarrass every de- 
partment of the State Government. 

What was accomplished in spite of the passive or active opposition of the Radical 
majority in the General Assembly is now set forth : 

The abuse of the pardoning power has been corrected. 

The character of the officers of the government, appointed by the Executive, has 
been improved, and the sureties upon the bonds of public officers have been required 
to make affidavit of their ability to meet the liability they assume. 

• The settlement of the public debt has been maintained unchanged, and faith with 
the public creditor, so far as depended on executive and legislative action, has been 
fully kept. 

The effort to place the whole of the public funds in two banks of small capital was 
frustrated, and the State so saved from the danger of far greater loss than was sus- 
tained by the failure of the Solomon Bank. 

The floating indebtedness of the State has been provided for in such a way that 
the recognized and valid claims are scaled to one half the amount, and their payment 
is distributed over a term of four years, resulting in a saving to the State of at least 
$4,000,000. 

The tax laws have been amended so as to secure substantial uniformity and equal- 
ity in the assessment of property for taxation. 

The contingent funds of the Executive Department have been so reduced in amount 
that the savings in two years, upon the basis of the average of six previous years, is 
$101,260. 

Legislative expenses, in like manner and upon a similar basis, have been so reduced 
as to save the people, in two years, $350,810. 

Legislative contingent expenses, in the same way, have been so reduced as to save 
to the State $355,000. 

In the expenditure of contingent funds accountability and publicity have been 
secured. 

The cost of public printing has been reduced from an annual average of $306,209 
to $50,000, saving in two years $512,418. 

The salaries of public officers have been reduced $30,000 a year. 

The tax levy for the current year for State purposes has been reduced from \i\ 
mills to II mills, a saving to the people of $300,000. 

The deficiencies (including the losses by the Solomon Bank) are, for the year 
1874-75, $308,872, which is $291,024 less than the deficiencies of 1872-73, and $233,- 
315 less than the deficiencies of 1873-74. 



3o6 



GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 



Under the several heads the savings that have actually been made are : 

In the Bonanza bill ....... $400,000 00 



In the executive contingent fund 
In legislative expenses . 
In contingent expenses 
In public printing 



101,260 00 
350,810 00 
355,000 00 
512,418 00 



Total $1,719,488 00 

To realize this amount would require a tax of nearly one and a half per cent. Had 
the appropriations of the past two years been so inordinate as the average of the ap- 
propriations aud expenditures of the preceding years, the State taxes of the past two 
years would have been three fourths per cent, a year more than the outrageous rate 
actually levied. 

This is the record of Governor Chamberlain as shown by hard figures and unmis- 
takable facts. We have strained or exaggerated nothing. The plain truth, as we 
know it, has been faithfully given. And we maintain that the record, as it stands, is 
one which Governor Chamberlain has cause to be proud of, that it justifies the support 
which has been given him, and is a complete answer to those of our friends who think 
that no act of Governor Chamberlain deserves public commendation but his refusal to 
issue the commissions to Whipper and Moses. That last act, applauded everywhere 
in South Carolina, has not been mentioned in these articles. Without it, omitting all 
notice of the many occasions on which he has defied and overcome the rascally Radical 
leaders, the record of Governor Chamberlain, in what he did, is an evidence of his 
own earnestness and sincerity, and, in what he failed to do, is a proof of the obstinacy 
and venality of the majority of his party. 








CHAPTER XIX. 



The Hamburg Massacre — Previous Disturbed Condition of Edgefield County — The 
Governor's Efforts to Secure Peace and Order — Proclamation of June 3, 1876 — 
Comment of the News and Courier — Letter of the Governor to Judge R. B. 
Carpenter — The Massacre at Hamburg, July 8, 1S76 — Prompt Action of the 
Governor — Report of an Investigation by Attorney General Stone — Letter of the 
Governor to United States Senator Robertson — Comments by the Nation — Letter 
of the Governor to the President — Comment of the New York Herald — Comment 
of the News and Courier — Statement of General M. C. Butler — Finding of the 
Coroner's Inquest — Complicity of Prominent Citizens Alleged — Postponement 
of Legal Proceedings against Them — Statement of Attorney General Stone — No 
One Ever Punished for the Crime. 

THE county of Edgefield, the hot-bed of uncompromising 
" Straight-out " sentiment, was a constant occasion of anxiety 
to the Governor. Lawlessness was its normal condition ; and the 
vicious ex amp le of the whites was not without evil influence upon 
the freedmen. The following documents narrate with suf^cient 
fulness the circumstances of an affair disgraceful to the State 
and, in its brutality, significant of the temper which was even i 
more horribly shown a few months later at Hamburg. The first 
is a Proclamation issued in June : 

State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber. 

Official information has reached me that on the 23d day of May last 
six persons, named Austin Davis, Stephen Lake, Larkin Holloway, Jesse 
Lake, Jefferson Settles, and Marshall Perrin, charged with the murder 
of John L. Harmon and Catharine A. Harmon, his wife, at a place 
called Winter Seat, in the County of Edgefield, were forcibly taken 
from the Sheriff of Edgefield County by a body of men numbering 
several hundreds, and immediately shot to death. 

The murder of Mr. and Mrs. Harmon, so far as the evidence pro- 
duced at the coroner's inquest shows, was cold-blooded and fiendish ; 
but the subsequent killing of those charged with this crime by others 
than officers of the law, and in a manner not authorized by the law, 
renders every person engaged in the killing a murderer in the eye of 

307 



308 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the law. No plea of provocation, or of the necessity for protection 
and example can for a moment be admitted to justify such an act. 

This State is not a new or imperfectly organized community in 
which concerted violence must sometimes supplement or supersede the 
laws. The laws of this State take notice of all crimes and provide 
jjunishment for all criminals. The Courts are everywhere accessible 
and frequent. 

Nor were there special circumstances attending this affair which 
could give occasion or excuse for this defiance and overthrow of the 
law and its officers. The persons charged with the crime were in the 
custody of the officers of the law. Escape was impossible. If the 
county jail was deemed insecure the citizens could have guarded it. A 
term of the Court of General Sessions was close at hand, a Court in 
which the presiding Judge and juries could not possibly be charged 
with lenity towards such crimes. No ground whatever existed for 
fearing Executive clemency after due conviction. During the term of 
office of the present Executive, no person capitally convicted has been 
pardoned, and the sentence of no person so convicted has been changed 
by the Executive except u])on the urgent and combined recommenda- 
tion of Court, jury, and citizens. 
I And yet, in the face of such facts, six citizens covered by the aegis of 
/ our laws, their persons inviolable from touch or hurt, except by the 
hands of the ministers of the law, have been summarily, deliberately, 
\ openly, and ruthlessly slain, without legal trial, without proper legal 
I scrutiny of the evidences of their guilt, and without the smallest chance 
/ of legal defence. To the horror inspired by the original crime is now 
added the horror which such lawless vengeance should everywhere in- 
spire. The peace of society was broken by the first crime ; but the 
supremacy of law was overthrown by the second crime. 

As the Chief Magistrate of the State, it is my duty to warn my fellow- 
citizens of the nature and effects of such resort to violence for the pun- 
ishment of crime, and to call upon all the officers and agents of the law 
to bring to just account those who have dared to usurp the awful pre- 
rogatives with which the lawfully constituted representatives of public 
justice are alone invested. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the State to be affixed, this third day of June, A.D. 1876, 
[l. s.] and of the independence of the United States the one hun- 
dredth. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 
By the Governor : 

H. E. Hayne, 

Secretary of State. 

The following official letter was given to the public at the time 
of the publication of this Proclamation : 



ADMINISTRATION. 309 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, June 3, 1876. 
Hon. R. B. Carpenter, Judge Fifth Judicial Circuit : 

Dear Sir — I enclose for your examination a copy of an Executive 
Proclamation having reference to the recent killing of six persons in 
Edgefield County, charged by the verdict of a coroner's jury with the 
murder of John L. Harmon and his wife, in said county. 

It is my duty to do all in my power to cause the execution of the 
laws in all cases of their violation. The Courts and their officers and 
agents are, of course, the chief means for the execution of the laws and 
the punishment of crimes. Over the Courts I have no control, but in 
the present instance I deem it my duty to call your official attention to 
the matter embraced in the enclosed Proclamation, and to suggest to 
you, with proper deference, that the attention of the Grand Jury of 
Edgefield County be directed to a full examination of the matter re- 
ferred to, to the end that such judicial action may be taken as the due 
execution of the laws may require and the facts of the case may war- 
rant. 

It having been brought to my attention that two women, named 
Matilda HoUoway and Bettie Perrin, who were charged by the coro- 
ner's jury as accessories to the murder, are still at large, and that other 
persons still living were probably connected with the crime to a greater 
or less degree, I beg leave to suggest that measures should be adopted 
to bring these persons before the Court to be dealt with according to 
law. 

In all possible ways it will be my duty to assist your Honor in the 
enforcement of the laws in this most extraordinary and painful affair. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

The comments of the Charleston Nezvs and Courier on this 
Proclamation have peculiar interest, for the reason that, besides 
fully approving of the action and sentiment of the Governor, 
while presenting the mitigating circumstances in the case, they 
acknowledge the fact, and the pernicious influence, of " the bru- 
tal deeds by the Ku-Klux in South Carolina." 

The most captious critic will scarcely find fault with the tone and temper of Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain's Proclamation on the subject of the lynching of the Harmon mur- 
derers, for the whole purpose of it is to point out the danger to society of such acts, 
however provoked, and to remind the public, in their own interest, of the inexorable 
need of maintaining the law's supremacy. As the Chief Magistrate of the State, Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain could say no less than he has said, nor could it be said with more 
kindly dignity. 

We have not pretended to justify the killing of the Harmon murderers. What 
•we could not do when the horrors of the deed for which the murderers died were fresh 



3IO GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

in our recollection, we cannot do at this later day. But Governor Chamberlain must 
remember that confidence is a plant of slow growth, and that for years past the people 
have had reason to doubt the efficiency of the Courts in this State as a means of pun- 
ishing criminals. The records of the Courts are covered deep with mis-trials and ac- 
quittals, through the inslrumentality of ingenious lawyers or ignorant juries, and for 
two years, in common opinion, pardons could always be had by those able and willing 
to pay for them. It was the fear that the Harmon murderers would escape, as other 
criminals had escaped, which provoked the Edgefield lynching. The better course 
would have been to try the law once again, and resort to Judge Lynch only when the 
constituted tribunals of justice had failed to mete out to the murderers the doom they 
deserved. 

In reading the accounts of the lynching, it will doubtless have been noticed that a 
number of influential gentlemen strove hard to persuade the lynching party from car- 
rying their determination into effect. And we remind the public that in such inability 
to control bodies of men whose passions are excited, lies the danger of mob law of any 
kind and under any circumstances. The brulal deeds of the Ku-Klux in South Caro- 
lina grew out of the organization of a society for strictly defined defensive purposes. 
Its objects, in its original form, were eminently proper ; but it soon changed in char- 
acter, and was made the means of wreaking private vengeance on poor wretches who 
were guiltless of the acts for which they suffered. And so will it be, if experience is 
any guide, whenever private citizens usurp the functions of the law's appointed officers. 
The temptation to make a quick ending of red-handed criminals is often, we admit, 
almost too strong to be resisted ; but it is best for the State, best for every man, 
woman, and child in it, that such deeds as the Edgefield lynching should never be com- 
mitted. The whites cannat expect tlie negroes to respect the law, if tliey give them 
a ruinous example by setting the law at defiance. 

Later in the same month the Governor addressed another 
official letter to Judge Carpenter, which also was made public. 
It discloses the reality of his concern for the public welfare, his 
anxious foreboding, and his readiness to do every thing in his 
power to secure order and prosperit}-. 

Executive Department, 
Columbia, S. C, June 24, 1875. 
Hon. R. B. Caj-penter, Judge Fifth Circuit, Columbia, S. C. : 

Dear Sir — Referring to our conversation respecting affairs in Edge- 
field County of day before yesterday, I think it best for me to address 
you officially upon the subject in addition to our conversation. Com- 
plaints have come to me so frequent and strong of late that I ought to 
lay their substance before you for such official action as you may be 
able to take, if, in your judgment, any is needed. I am the more 
bound to do this because when I was seeking last winter to restore 
peace and order to that county I especially advised the ])eople that the 
Courts were open, and all their wrongs could there be redressed, and I 
am sure this admonition had a happy effect. The present complaints 
are, in general, as follows : 



A D MINIS TKA TION. 3 1 1 

1. They complain that the funds of the county are now being 
squandered on the poor, while the roads, bridges, and other great 
interests of the county are almost wholly neglected. 

2. They complain that the school fund is so managed and adminis- 
tered as to do little good, incompetent teachers being employed at 
excessive rates of pay. 

3. They complain that the office of the Probate Judge is in a con- 
dition of disgraceful neglect, and that large parts of the records are 
gone, and that the Probate Judge is himself totally incompetent to dis- 
charge his duties. 

4. They complain that the Sheriff has, from incapacity or inability 
of some kind, totally failed to fill the office, or perform its ordinary 
duties, his incapacity or inability culminating recently in the escape of 
several prisoners under sentence of your Honor to the penitentiary. 

5. They complain that the past indebtedness of the county is still 
unadjusted, and the large fund of some $13,000 is still undistributed, 
though many of the claimants are worthy men and holders of just 
claims, and that this fund has been for a long time in Court, and a 
referee appointed to audit the claims. 

6. They complain that indictments now pending and presentments 
made against public officers in that county have not been duly pressed 
by the Solicitor, and that the result has been a feeling of discourage- 
ment in the work of holding officials to their proper accountability. 

7. They complain generally of great incapacity on the part of many 
of the county officers elected by the people, resulting in a deplorable 
state of things in all public interests of the county. 

These matters embrace the main substantial complaints. You will, 
of course, understand that I do no more than state these complaints. 
They are ex parte, but they come from sources which seem entitled to 
respect. 

I must say that I fear not a little for the peace of that county 
during the present summer, in the present state of feeling there ; and 
if any thing occurs to you as a preventive or remedy for any evils exist- 
ing there, I most earnestly urge you to apply such preventive or remedy. 
If, from your superior knowledge of the affairs of that county, you 
regard the complaints now stated as unfounded in fact, or if, being 
founded in fact, you have no power to apply a remedy, then the results 
will not be chargeable to you. If, on your part, you see any official or 
personal action on my part which will, in any degree, tend to the 
advantage of good citizens of that county, I beg that you will inform 
me, and I will act with promptness. If the complaints made have 
sufficient foundation to warrant it, I venture to suggest the calling of 
an extra term of Court for that county, at some time not far distant, at 
which many of these matters could be fully and finally investigated. 
Of the possibility of such action I cannot judge, but I think, if practi- 
cable, it would tend to the peace and welfare of the county. I am, very 
respectfully, your Honor's obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 



312 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Following close on these efforts to establish peace on the basis 
of justice, and while the publications reproduced in the preceding 
chapter were in progress, there occurred, on the 8th of July, 1876, 
at Hamburg, a village in Aiken County (formerly Edgefield), just 
across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga., what has passed 
into history as the " Hamburg Massacre." Undoubtedly this 
event was the turning point in the course of political affairs 
in South Carolina, although itcTid not immediately divert from 
Governor Chamberlain the favor of all Democrats who were well- 
disposed to him. It was the first demonstration of the revival of the 
spirit of violent persecution of the colored race which had charac- 
terized the period of the Ku-Klux outrages, and which thus far 
during the Governor's Administration, owing to the rigid and 
zealous enforcement by him of impartial law protecting the rights 
of all, had been inactive. For Governor Chamberlain to treat this 
' occurrence with forbearance was impossible. A crime of deepest 
dye had been committed, and he would have been as false to his 
magisterial duty as to the dictates of justice and humanity if he 
had hesitated to denounce it, or to use every power in him vested 
to bring the guilty to punishment. It was probably equally im- 
possible for the majority of the white people of South Carolina, 
bred to the system of slavery, and habituated to consider any 
resistance of black men to the will of white men as intolerable^ 
meriting stripes, or sale, or death, in the white man's discretion, 
without intervention of process of law, to join the Governor in 
condemnation of their fellow-citizens who had, for any reason, 
engaged in a conflict with negroes. In this event the " barbarism 
of slavery " asserted itself once more in revolt against the new 
condition of equal rights under equal laws. Governor Chamber- 
lain had been trained where no man, however high his station, 
has privilege to murder without answering to the State. By a 
moral necessity. Governor Chamberlain and his Republican sup- 
porters parted company at this point with the " white man's 
party" of South Carolina. But until their Convention had acted, 
many Democrats continued to advocate that no nomination 
should be made in opposition to him ; after that date the conduct 
of the campaign was adapted to the condition of the race war 
initiated at Hamburg. 



A D MINIS TEA TIOiV. 3 1 5 

The story of this dark and horrible crime is given succinctly / 
in official documents. These show the care taken by the Governor 
to ascertain the exact facts without partisan motive or bias. In 
his speech in the April Convention, referring to his course when 
he had suppressed a negro riot in Edgefield and Laurens counties 
which threatened the property and lives of white men, action 
which brought upon him much criticism from his own party, he \ 
said: " I go for the protection of every man. The meanest man 
who assails me because he is my political enemy shall have my 
protection with the rest. Democrats and Republicans alike shall 
have my protection, and when South Carolina cannot protect the 
lives and liberties of her citizens, I conceive it to be the highest 
duty of the United States to protect them, and my highest duty, 
I conceive, is to invoke that aid in time of need." And he then 
made known that, at the time referred to, he had requested the 
intervention of the Federal authorities in case the negro rioters 
became too powerful to be dealt with by the civil authorities of 
the State. The Democrats of South Carolina had only praise 
and gratitude for his course on that occasion ; but when they, in 
turn, and in a vastly aggravated form, became offenders against 
the law and the public peace, his firm application of the 
same principles brought upon him their angry condemnation. 
Unswerved by any praise or blame, he kept a true course with 
courageous heart, guided by voiceless beacons of duty that shone 
over his troubled way like stars above the trackless sea. 

As soon as possible after the affair, the Governor sent the 
Attorney General of the State to Hamburg to investigate the cir- 
cumstances. He made the following report : 

Columbia, S. C, July 12, 1876. 

Sir : — According to your request of Monday last, I have visited 
Hamburg for the purpose of ascertaining the facts connected with the 
killing of several men there on the night of the 8th of July. 

My information has been derived chiefly from Trial-Justice Rivers, 
and from the testimony of persons whd'hlive been exammed before the 
coroner's jury now in session, and from those who received wounds from 
the armed body of white men who had taken them prisoners. From 
this information the following facts seem to be clearly established : 

During the administration of Governor Scott a company of State 
militia was organized at Hamburg, of which Prince Rivers was cap- 
tain. This company was known as Company A, Ninth Regiment Na- 



3H 



GO VERNOR CHA MBERLA IN ' S 



tional Guard of the State of South Carolina. Arms were at that time 
furnished to it, and some ammunition. 

This company, previous to May, 1876, had for some time but few 
names on its rolls, drilled rarely, and scarcely kept alive its organiza- 
tion. But in May, of this year, the number of members increased to 
about eighty, and one Doc Adams was chosen captain. 

On the 4th of July the company drilled on one of the public streets 
in the town of Hamburg. The street on which they drilled was be- 
tween one hundred and one hundred and fifty feet wide ; but it was 
little used, and was overgrown with grass, except in that portion which 
was used as a carriage-road. While the company was thus drilling, 
Thomas Butler and Henry Getzen, his brother-in-law, came along in a 
carriage, and demanded that the company should make way for them. 
Adams halted the company, remonstrated with Butler and Getzen for 
thus seeking to interfere with the company, and called their attention 
to the fact that there was plenty of room on each side of the company 
to pass. 

Finding them unwilling to turn out of their course, Adams finally 
•opened ranks arid allowed them to drive through. 

This incident seems to have angered Butler and Getzen, who made 
complaint before Trial- Justice Rivers against the militia company for 
obstructing the highway. The Trial Justice on the following day issued 
a warrant against Adams, as he was the captain of the company, and 
had him brought before him for trial. During the progress of the trial, 
Adams was arrested by the Trial Justice for contempt of court, and sub- 
sequently the case was continued until four o'clock Saturday afternoon, 
July 8th. 

At that time Butler and Getzen, with General M. C. Butler, who had 
been employed by Robert I. Butler, father of the former, as their attor- 
ney, repaired to the office of the Trial Justice, but Adams did not appear. 

General Butler inquired as to the nature of the charges against Adams, 
and asked if the Trial Justice was to hear the case as trial justice or in 
his official capacity of major general of militia. To this the Trial Justice 
replied that he was to hear the case as a trial justice, but if the facts 
showed that a military offence had been committed, Adams would have 
to be tried by a court-martial. General Butler then stated that he 
thought the case might be arranged, and, at his suggestion, time was 
given him to see the parties. After this, the Trial Justice did not see 
General Butler at his office, but learned that he had gone over to Au- 
gusta. In the meantime the Trial Justice had been informed that some 
two or three hundred armed white men were in Hamburg, and that a 
demand had been made by them that the militia should surrender their 
arms. After a consultation with Messrs. Jefferson and Spencer, Rivers 
sent for General Butler. He rode up to the back gate of Rivers' house ; 
the two had a conversation, in which General Butler said that he had 
given orders to have the guns given up in half an hour, and the time 
was nearly up. Rivers asked if some other arrangement could not be 
made, to which General Butler replied in the negative. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 3 1 5 

Rivers then asked if he would not consent to have him receive the 
arms, box them up, and send them to the Governor, to which General 
Butler replied that he would box them up and send them to the Gov- 
ernor, and if he (the Governor) should return them to the company it 
would be at his own risk. Rivers then asked if they would give a bond 
for the arms, to which General Butler said that he would stand the 
bond, and turning to another person — I think R. J. Butler — asked if he 
would n't go on a bond also, to which he replied that he would. Rivers 
then asked for time before fire should be opened on the militia, so that 
he might have a conference with the militia officers. This was acceded 
to, and Rivers then went to the building known as the Sibley building, 
in the second story of which the company had its armory and drill-room, 
and where it was then assembled, and told Captain Adams what might 
be expected if he should refuse to give up the arms. To this Adams re- , 
plied that General Butler had no right to the guns ; that the company 1 
held them, and he proposed to hold them unless General Butler showed \ 
some authority to take them. After this interview. Rivers returned to | 
General Butler, with whom was Robert J. Butler. He told them the \ 
decision to which the company had come. Then Robert J. Butler said | 
that General Buller was his attorney ; that \\^ liad come to settle / 
the matter. If the company would apologize for the insult to his son 
and son-in-law, he would do nothing more, but the whole matter was in 
General Butler's hands. General Butler said that, as the men would 
not meet him, he would have no more to do with them. General Butler 
was asked by Rivers if he would guarantee the safety of the town should 
the militia surrender their arms. He said that would depend on how 
the men behaved themselves afterward. This statement is confirmed 
by S. P. Pixley. 

While these negotiations were going on, the armed body of white men j 
in the town were concentrated on the bank of the river near the Sibley \ 
building. Soon after they were broken off firing began. Men who 
were in the building say that it was commenced by the whites firing 
upon the building. Adams gave his orders not to shoot until he directed , 
them to. The company had very little ammunition, and all they had \ 
was a portion of that issued to the company when it was first organized. 1 

After the firing had begun, it was returned by the militia, and one of ■ 
the attacking party, McKee Merriwether, was shot through the head, 
and instantly killed. After this a piece of artillery, said to belong to 
the Washington Artillery of Augusta, was brought over from Augusta, 
and four charges of canister were fired from it upon the armory, but 
without injuring any one. The persons in the armory escaped from the 
rear by means of ladders, and hid under floors of adjacent buildings, 
or wherever else they could find shelter. 

The first man killed by the whites was James Cook, town marshal. 
He had been in the armory, but was not a member of the company. He 
had gone into the street from the rear of the Sibley building, and was at 
once fired on, and fell dead instantly, pierced by five or six bullets. 
Afterward the whites began their search for the members of the com- 



3l6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

pany. They succeeded in getting about twenty-five colored men as pris- 
oners, some of whom were never members of the company. As fast as 
they were captured they were taken to a place near the South Carolina 
Railroad, where a large party of armed men stood guard over them. 
None of those thus captured had arms in their hands. 

Subsequently, and at about two o'clock a.m., six men took A. T. At- 
taway out of the " ring." He and his mother begged for his life, but in 
vain. He was told to turn round, and was then shot to death by the 
crowd. David Phillips was next taken out, and was similarly killed. 
Pompey Curry was next called out. He recognized among the by- 
standers Henry Getzen and Dr. Pierce Butler, and called on them 
to keep the other men from killing him. He ran, and was shot at as 
he ran, one bullet striking him in the right leg, below the knee. 

Afterward, Albert Myniart, Moses Parks, and Hampton Stephens 
were killed. Stephens did not belong to the company. Nelder John 
Parker, who has been commonly referred to in the newspaper reports 
as John Thomas, was corporal in the company. When he was arrested 
and taken to the spot where the other prisoners were, he recognized 
1 among the party two gentlemen of Augusta, named Twiggs and Chaf- 
I fee. He appealed to them for protection. They said he should not be 
hurt. He states that General M. C. Butler asked if he was one of the 

d d rascals. The reply was in the affirmative. He was then shot 

in the back. Messrs. Twiggs and Chaffee then said if he was shot again 
they would shoot the ones who did it. They took him off, and had him 
taken to Augusta. He was shot before Attaway was killed. He may 
recover from his wounds. 

One Butler Edwards was taken as a prisoner. He says he was 
taken before General Butler, who at the time was in the street near the 
Sibley building. This was about twelve o'clock. 

Threats were made to shoot him. General Butler directed that he 
be taken to the others. He recognized among the crowd one Captain 

Carnile and Dunbar, of Augusta ; said he had a long talk with 

the former. He was among the prisoners who were let loose and told 
to run ; as they ran they were fired at, and he was shot in the head. 
He was not a member of the company. 

Willis Davis, one of the members of the company, was taken to 
the place where were the other prisoners. The men stated that John 
Swaringen, of Edgefield County, had charge of the prisoners. He 
states that he saw General Butler before the men were killed, who 
asked him what he was doing, and told him he would have enough of 
it before he got through. He was shot in the arm near the elbow 
when about twenty paces distant from the crowd. The ball is still in 
his arm, and he suffers much pain. He also states that some of the 
young men from Georgia remonstrated against shooting the prisoners, 
but in vain. 
f Besides the killing and wounding of the men herein named, the 

/( party broke open several stores and houses, and, in some instances, 
robbed the inmates. They took from Mr. Charles Roll, the postmaster. 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 3 I / 

and a very respectable white citizen, a gun which he had in his store, 
and his private property. From an old colored man named Jacob 
Samuels, in his employ, they took a watch, and set fire to his house. 
They broke open the house of Trial-Justice Rivers, and did much 
damage, as well as robbed him of clothing. They obtained kerosene 
oil and attempted to set fire to the house, but were prevented by Col. 
A. P. Butler from doing so. The ropes of the public wells were cut, 
and some fences were torn down. 

So far as I can learn, the primary object of the whites was to take 
away from the militia their arms. 

The man Parker, who was wounded, states that on Friday, the 7th 
instant, he had a long talk with one Harrison Butler (white) on Broad 
Street, Augusta. Butler told him that if Rivers did not give orders 
for the militia to give up their arms they would take them any way on 
the next day. 

On Saturday rumors were abroad in Hamburg that there were 
armed parties coming in to take the guns, but little credit was attached 
to them. 

One of the white citizens of Hamburg heard a conversation 
between David Phillips and General Butler in the afternoon. Phillips 
talked very "big," as the gentleman said, and General Butler told him 
that they wanted those guns and were bound to have them. 

In the afternoon Col. A. P. Butler went to the various stores in 
town and told the proprietors that they must not sell any liquor to his 
men. In spite of this, however, some of the men compelled one of the 
storekeepers to furnish them liquor. From the same person they 
obtained kerosene oil to use in setting fire to a house. 

The whites were armed with guns and small arms of various kinds, 
and many of them had axes and hatchets. 

It is proper to state that the intendant of Hamburg, Mr. Gardner, 
was informed by General Butler, in an interview with him, that the 
arms of the company must be given up. 

Trial-Justice Rivers is now holding an inquest, and taking the 
testimony of witnesses. Until their verdict is rendered it will be im- 
possible to tell who were engaged in the attack on the militia, and the 
subsequent killing and wounding of the colored men. 

It may be possible that a careful judicial investigation may show 
some slight errors in some of the minor details stated in this report. 
But making due allowance for such errors, the facts show the demand 
on the militia to give up their arms was made by persons without law- 
ful authority to enforce such demand or to receive the arms had they 
been surrendered ; that the attack on the militia to compel a compli- 
ance with this demand was without lawful excuse or justification ; and 
that after there had been some twenty or twenty-five prisoners captured 
and completely in the power of their captors, and without means 
of making further resistance, five of them were deliberately shot to 
death and three more severely wounded. It further appears that not 
content with thus satisfying their vengeance, many of the crowd added 



3l8 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

to their guilt the crime of robbery of defenceless people, and were only- 
prevented from arson by the efforts of their own leaders. 
Yours, very respectfully, 

WILLIAM STONE, 
Attorney General of South Carolina. 
Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, 

Governor. j 

Upon receipt of this report and other trustwo rthy evidence. 
Governor Chamberlain addressed the followiiTg letter to Senator 
Robertson at Washington, where, naturally, the newspaper reports 
of the affair had excited serious concern : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, July 13, 1876. 
Hon. T. J. Robertson, United States Senator, Washington, D. C. : 

Dear Sir — Your request for a statement from me of the recent 
bloody affair at Hamburg in this State was duly received. I have 
waited before replying until official reports and statements should be 
received. There are now before me the official reports of the Attorney 
General and the Adjutant and Inspector General, the testimony taken 
at the coroner's inquest, and the written statement of several other 
persons who were present and witnessed the whole or parts of the affair. 
I will present to you the leading facts as they appear from the evidence 
to which I have referred. 

On the 4th of July inst. a company of the State militia (colored) 
were marching along one of the streets of Hamburg. The street was 
over one hundred feet wide, and the company was marching in columns 
of four. While so marching they were met by two young white men in 
a buggy, who insisted in keeping their course in the street without re- 
gard to the movements of the militia, and drove against the head of the 
column, which tliereupon halted. Some parleying took place, which 
resulted in the company yielding and opening their ranks, and allow- 
ing the young men to proceed on their course. On the following day 
the young men referred to took out warrants of arrest against some of 
the officers of the militia company, who were brought before a Trial 
Justice for trial. The trial was afterwards adjourned till 4 p.m. of 
Saturday, the 8th. Before that hour arrived, on Saturday, many white 
citizens from the country around Hamburg began to gather in the 
town, and armed themselves with guns and pistols. 

The militia company in the meanwhile had assembled in the 
armory in the village, and at the hour set for trial the defendants did 
not appear. At this point it has been stated in despatches and news- 
papers that the militia officers, having defied the authority of the Trial 
Justice, the citizens were called in to assist the Trial Justice by acting as 
his posse. Nothing of the kind in fact occurred ; the militia failed to 
appear because of their fear of injury at the hands of the armed white 



AD MINIS TRA TION. 3 1 9 

men, and the Trial Justice, after formally calling them, took no further 
steps to cause their presence in his Court, on account of the excitement 
and the evidences of an impending conflict. 

While affairs were in this condition, there being, according to all 
accounts, from two hundred to three hundred armed white men from 
the surrounding country in the town, a demand was made by the 
whites for the surrender to them of the arms of the militia. An hour 
or two passed in negotiations concerning this demand, the whites 
informing the militia company that if the arms were not given up in a 
short time (most of the witnesses say in a half hour) the whites would 
open fire on the militia. The militia refused to deliver up their arms, 
saying that the demand was wholly unwarranted and illegal, and that 
they had reason to fear for their lives if they gave up their arms. A 
brisk fire was then opened by the whites on the building in which the 
militia were assembled, and soon after one of the attacking party was 
killed by a shot from the militia in the building. A piece of artillery 
was thereupon brought across the bridge from Augusta, loaded with 
canister, and fired several times at the building in which were the 
militia. This had the effect to cause the militia to endeavor to make 
their escape from the rear of the building. 

The Town Marshal of Hamburg, a colored man, who was living in 
the building, was instantly shot by the attacking party while thus 
endeavoring to escape from the building. Twenty or twenty-five of 
the militia were captured by the attacking party and kept under guard 
several hours. Finally about 2 o'clock on the morning of the 9th of 
July (Sunday), after consultation among their captors, and with com- 
plete apparent deliberation, five of the captured militiamen were 
called out, one by one, and shot to death in the presence of a large body 
of their captors. The rest of the captured party were either turned 
loose or broke loose and ran. They were fired upon as they ran, and 
three of them were severely wounded, one of them probably mortally. 
Attorney General Stone thus succinctly reports this part of the affair.' 
Such was the affair at Hamburg ; if you can find words 
to characterize its atrocity and barbarism, the triviality of the 
causes, and the murderous and inhuman spirit which marked it in 
all its stages, your power of language exceeds mine. It presents a 
darker picture of human cruelty than the slaughter of Custer and his 
soldiers, as they were shot in open battle. The victims at Hamburg 
were murdered in cold blood after they had surrendered, and were ut- 
terly defenceless. No occasion existed for causing the presence of a 
single armed citizen at Hamburg the day of the massacre. No violence 
was offered or threatened to any one. It is indeed said, as usual, that 
"the niggers were impudent," but the evidence shows that all the 
actual physical aggression was on the part of the whites ; that they 
made a demand which they had no right to make, and when that demand 
was refused, as it should have been, they proceeded to enforce it by 

' The quotations from the Attorney General's report, already given in full, are 
here omitted. 



320 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

arms, and crowned their success in enforcing their demands by brutal 
murders. Shame and disgust must fill the breast of every man who 
respects his race or human nature as he reads the tale. 

To me, in my oiificial capacity, wherein, as you will testify, I have 
done my utmost, at no little risk of personal and political detraction 
from my political friends, to remove abuses and restore good govern- 
ment and harmony to our people, the occurrence of such an appalling 
example of human passion and depravity comes as a deep mortification 
and discouragement. What hopes can we have when such a cruel, 
bloodthirsty spirit waits in our midst for its hour of gratification ? Is our 
civilization so shallow ? Is our race so wantonly cruel ? Such acts 
call for condemnation and punishment, for condemnation as a bloody 
blot in the record of your race and mine, as a cruel affront to a race 
whose long-suffering and patient forbearance challenges the admiration 
of the world, as a shameful dishonor to the name of South Carolina ; 
for punishment as a violation of the laws and a wanton blow at the 
peace and happiness of our State. 

I am glad to testify to the horror which this event has excited 
among many here who have not been wont to heartily condemn many 
of the past bloody occurrences at the South. Nothing, however, short 
of condign and ample punishment can discharge the obligation of 
society and our State toward the authors of this causeless and cruel 
massacre. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 

This letter was published in despatches from Washington, 
August 1 8th. The sober judgment of the Northern press regarding 
the affair and its significance is fairly, but not extravagantly, exem- 
plified by the following comments of the New York Nation : 

From Governor Chamberlain's account it appears that there was no excuse 
for these horrible brutalities, the whites having murdered their uno ffend ing victims while 
begging for their lives. This account, based as it is on the report by the State Attor- 
ney General, and practically vouched for by the News and Courier — a newspaper 
which would naturally seek to give as favorable a view of the behavior of the whites 
as possible — is no doubt correct. The massacre does not seem to be disputed by any- 
body, and the Charleston yournal of Cof?iJneire, which is an out-and-out white man's 
paper, does not scruple to declare that no one can expect ruffianly negroes to "be 
treated as prisoners of honorable warfare according to the laws of nations," — a sen- 
tence which, by the way, shows in a curious manner how the semi-military habits en- 
gendered in the South by long years of war and misgovernment have blotted out all 
the ideas of law and justice common to people living under a peaceful rule. The town 
of Hamburg is almost entirely filled with negroes, while it is close by the State of 
Georgia, now fully in the possession of the whites, and near by the white populations 
of Aiken and Edgefield counties, in the latter of which bad blood was not long ago 
created by the performance of a company of negroes under a man named Tennent, 



A D MINIS TRA TION 321 

who were disarmed by the State authorities and the United States troops to prevent a 
suspected attack on the whites. Politics are, just now, in a very unsettled condition 
in South Carolina, as the Democratic Convention, which meets on the 15th of next 
month, will have to choose between a straight-out nomination of some such Democrat 
as Wade Hampton and a combination with the Reform Republicans under Chamber- 
lain, and the straight-out Democrats are now, of course, accusing Chamberlain of 
using the Hamburg massacre for political purposes, and as a means of getting troops 
for the election. There can be little doubt that a union of all the respectable portions 
of society under Chamberlain would now do more to restore harmony and prosperity 
in South Carolina than any other possible course. Whatever views were taken of his 
connection with Scott and Parker in the early carpet-bag days, there is no doubt that 
since he has been Governor he has given the most substantial proof of his determina- 
tion to root out corruption and give the State good government. There is no better 
test in a community like South Carolina, where there is a close connection between 
politics and crime, of a Governor's intentions than his exercise of the pardoning 
power. vScott, for instance, between 1868 and 1870 pardoned 332 convicts, and, be- 
tween 1870 and 1872, 247 more. Moses, between 1S72 and 1874, pardoned 457; 
while from December i, 1874, to May 31, 1876, the total number of Chamberlain's 
pardons were 73, 66 of these being recommended by the judges, and in the other 7 
cases the judges making no objection. Mr. Chamberlain has in this and in all other 
ways ever since his election stood between the community and the ruffians who gov- 
erned it before his time, and the Democrats will make a fatal mistake now if they throw 
him overboard. 

The effect of the massacre upon the public order of the State, 
especially upon the colored race, and Governor Chamberlain's 
foreboding of its consequences, were set forth in the following 
letter to the President : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, July 22, 1876. j 

Sir: — The recent massacre at Hamburg, in this State, is a matter so ■ 
closely connected with the public peace of this State that I desire to 
call your attention to it, for the purpose of laying before you my views 
of its effect and the measures which it may become necessary to adopt 
to prevent the recurrence of similar events. 

It is, in the first place, manifestly impossible to determine with ab- f 



solute certainty the motives of those who were engaged in perpetrat 
ing the massacre at'ttamourg. The demand which was made by the 
mob upon the militia company for the surrender of their arms, taken 
in connection with the fact that the militia are not shown to have com- 
mitted or threatened any injury to any persons in that community, 
would seem to indicate a purpose to deprive the militia of their rights 
on account of their race or political opinions. It seems impossible to 
find a rational or adequate cause for such a demand, except in the fact 
that the militia company was composed of negroes, or in the additional 
fact that they were, besides being negroes, members of the Republican 
party. Those who made the demand were, on the other hand, white 



322 



GO VEKNOR CHA MBERLA IN ' S 



men, and members of the Democratic party. The lines of race and 
political party were the lines which marked the respective parties to 
the affair at Hamburg. I mention this as a fact, and as, apparently, 
the most trustworthy index of the motives and aims which inspired 
those who brought on this conflict. 

As affecting the public peace, however, the effect of this massacre 
is more important than the motives which prompted it. Upon this 
point I can speak with more confidence. It is not to be doubted that 
the effect of this massacre has been to cause widespread terror and 
apprehension among the colored race and the Republicans of this 
State. There is as little doubt, on the other hand, that a feeling of 
triumph and political elation has been caused by this massacre in the 
minds of many of the white people and Democrats. The fears of the 
one side correspond with the hopes of the other side. 

I do not intend to overstate any matters connected with this affair, 
nor to omit any statement which seems to me essential to a full under- 
standing of its significance. It is certainly true that the most, though 
not all, of those who have spoken through the newspapers or otherwise 
here, on the white or Democratic side, upon this matter, have con- 
demned the massacre. Their opposition to such conduct has not, how- 
ever, sufficed to prevent this massacre ; nor do I see any greater reason 
for believing that it will do so in the future. That class which now 
engage in this cruel work certainly disregard the expressed sentiments 
of those who assume to speak, for the most part, for their communi- 
ties, and go forward without fear of public opinion or punishment. 

It is sometimes asked : Why do not the colored race return this 
violence with violence ? Why do they suffer themselves to be thus ter- 
rorized, when their numbers greatly exceed those of their enemies in 
the localities where many of these outrages occur ? The answer is not 
difficult. The long habit of command and self-assertion on the part 
of the whites of these Southern States, their superior intelligence as 
compared with the colored race, the fact that at least four fifths of the 
property of these States are in their hands, are causes which contribute 
to give them an easy physical superiority thus far over the recently 
emancipated race, who still exhibit the effects of their long slavery in 
their habit of yielding to the more imperious and resolute will and the 
superior intelligence and material resources of the white men. 

Add to this that in almost every Southern community there may be 
found a considerable number of daring, lawless, reckless white men, ac- 
customed to arms and deeds of violence, over whom the restraint of 
the sentiments of the better and more conservative classes of society 
have little if any power, who are inspired by an intense and brutal 
hatred of the negro as a free man, and more particularly as a voter 
and a Republican, and you have the elements which would naturally 
give rise to, and in point of fact do give rise to, nearly all the scenes 
of bloody violence which occur in the Southern States. Besides all 
this, another fact must be noted here, a fact which, in my judgment, 
marks and explains the world-wide difference between the effects of 



A DM INI S TRA I V ON. , 323 

such occurrences as this at Hamburg upon the mass of the white peo- 
ple here, and the effects of deeds of blood and violence upon the peo- 
ple of other sections of the country, namely, that such occurrences as 
this at Hamburg have generally resulted in what is thought to be politi- 
cal advantage to the Democratic party here. From this fact it results 
that the white people here are induced, to a considerable extent, to 
overlook the naked brutality of the occurrence and seek to find some 
excuse or explanation of conduct which ought to receive only unquali- 
fied abhorrence and condemnation, followed by speedy and adequate 
punishment. In this way it often happens that a few reckless men are 
permitted or encouraged to terrorize a whole community and destroy 
all freedom of action on the part of those who differ from them in 
political opinions. The more respectable portion of the white people 
here content themselves with verbal perfunctory denunciations, and 
never adopt such measures or arouse such a public sentiment as would 
here, as well as elsewhere, put a stop to such occurrences. 

In respect to the Hamburg massacre, as I have said, the fact is un- 
questionable that it has resulted in great immediate alarm among the 
colored people and all Republicans in that section of the State. Judg- 
ing from past experience, they see in this occurrence a new evidence 
of a purpose to subject the majority of the voters of that vicinity to 
such a degree of fear as to keep them from the polls on election day, 
and thus reverse or stifle the true political voice of the majority of the 
people. 

But the Hamburg massacre has produced another effect. It has as 
a matter of course caused a firm belief on the part of most Republicans 
here that this affair at Hamburg is only the beginning of a series of 
similar race and party collisions in our State, the deliberate aim of 
which is believed by them to be the political subjugation and control 
of the State. They see, therefore, in this event what foreshadows a 
campaign of blood and violence, such a campaign as is popularly 
known as a campaign conducted on the " Mississippi plan." 

From what I have now said, it will not be difficult to understand 
the feeling of a majority of the citizens in a considerable part of this 
State. It is one of intense solicitude for their lives and liberties. It 
is one of fear that, in the passion and excitement of the current politi- 
cal campaign, physical violence is to be used to overcome the political 
will of the people. I confine myself here to a statement of what I be- 
lieve to be the facts of the present situation in this case as connected 
with the public peace and order, without any expression of my indi- 
vidual feelings and opinions. My first duty is to seek to restore and 
preserve public peace and order, to the end that every man in South 
Carolina may freely and safely enjoy all his civil rights and privileges, 
including the right to vote. It is to this end that I now call your at- 
tention to these matters. I shall go forward to do all in my power as 
Governor to accomplish the ends above indicated, but I deem it im- 
portant to advise you of the facts now stated, and to solicit from you 
some indication of your views upon the questions presented. To be 



324 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

more specific, will the General Government exert itself vigorously to 
repress violence in this State during the present political campaign on 
the part of persons belonging to cither political party, whenever that 
violence shall be beyond the control of the State authorities ? Will 
the General Government take such precautions as may be suitable, in 
view of the feeling of alarm already referred to, to restore confidence 
to the poor people of both races and political parties in this State, by 
such a distribution of the military forces now here as will render the 
intervention of the General Government prompt and effective, if it shall 
become necessary, in restoring peace and order ? 

It seems proper to add that I am moved to make this communica- 
tion to you by no motive or feeling save such as should animate me as 
the Chief Executive of this State, bound to do justice to all, and to op- 
press none. I venture to say that I have given sufficient evidence by 
my whole conduct in this office that, as Governor, I am guided by 
my oath of office and my duty to all the people. I challenge any proof 
or indication, from any word or act of mine as Governor, that I am 
capable of doing injustice or denying justice to any citizen of this 
State. But I do deem it my solemn duty to do my utmost to secure a 
fair and free election in this State ; to protect every man in the free 
enjoyment of his political rights, and to see to it that no man or com- 
bination of men, of any political party, shall overawe or put in fear or 
danger any citizen of South Carolina in the exercise of his civil rights. 
In accomplishing these results I now recognize, with deep regret, that 
there are many indications that it will be necessary for me to invoke 
the aid which, under the Constitution and laws, the authorities of the 
General Government may extend under certain circumstances. 

And I trust you will permit me to add that I know no official duty 
more binding, in my judgment, on the Chief Executive of the United 
States than that of exercising the powers with which he is invested for 
the protection of the States against domestic violence, and for the 
protection of the individual citizen in the exercise of his political rights, 
whenever a proper call is made upon him. I understand that an 
American citizen has a right to vote as he pleases ; to vote one ticket 
as freely and safely as another ; to vote wrong as freely and safely 
as to vote right ; and I know that whenever, upon whatsoever pretext, 
large bodies of citizens can be coerced by force or fear into absenting 
themselves from the polls, or voting in a way contrary to their judg- 
ment or inclination, the foundation of every man's civil freedom is 
deeply, if not fatally, shaken. 

I inclose, for your information respecting the Hamburg massacre, 
the following documents : The report of Hon. William Stone, Attorney 
General of this State ; the report of General H. W. Purvis, Adjutant 
and Inspector General ; a copy of all the evidence taken before the 
coroner's jury ; a copy of the printed statement of General M. C. But- 
ler ; a copy of a letter addressed by me to Hon. T. J. Robertson ; an 
Address to the American people by the colored people of Charleston; 
and a similar Address by a Committee appointed at a convention of 



A DM INI S TEA TION. 325 

leading representatives of the colored people of this State, in Colum- 
bia, on the 20th inst, I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 
D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

To the Governor's letter the President made the following ^A 

reply : V i;}^ 

Executive Mansion, '^^ \ r- 

Washington, D. C, July 26th. v 

Dear Sir : — I am in receipt of your letter of the 22d of July, and 
all the inclosures enumerated therein, giving an account of the late 
barbarous massacre at the town of Hamburg, S. C. The views which 
you express as to the duty you owe to your oath of office and to citizens , 
to secure to all their civil rights, including the right to vote according j 
to the dictates of their own consciences, and the further duty of the ' 
Executive of the nation to give all needful aid, when properly called 
on to do so, to enable you to ensure this inalienable right, I fully con- 
cur in. The scene at Hamburg, as cruel, blood-thirsty, wanton, unpro- 
voked, and uncalled for, as it was, is only a repetition of the course 
which has been pursued in other Southern States within the last few 
years, notably in Mississippi and Louisiana. Mississippi is governed j , 
to- day by officials chosen through fraud and violence, such as would i \ 
scarcely be accredited to savages, much less to a civilized and Chris- 
tian people. How long these things are to continue, or what is to be 
the final remedy, the Great Ruler of the universe only knows ; but I 
have an abiding faith that the remedy will come, and come speedily, 
and I earnestly hope that it will come peacefully. [There hj^n€.v^r been^ 
a desire on the part of the North to humiliate the South. ) Nothing is 
claimed for one State that is not fully accorded to all others, unless it 
may be the right to kill negroes and Republicans without fear of pun- 
ishment and without loss of caste or reputation. This has seemed to 
be a privilege claimed by a few States. I repeat again, that I fully 
agree with you as to the measure of your duties in the present emer- 
gency, and as to my duties. Go on — and let every Governor where the 
same dangers threaten the peace of his State go on — in the conscien- 
tious discharge of his duties to the humblest as well as the proudest 
citizen, and I will give every aid for which I can find law or constitu- 
tional power. A government that cannot give protection to life, prop- 
erty, and all guaranteed civil rights (in this country the greatest is an 
untrammelled ballot) to the citizen is, in so far, a failure, and every 
energy of the oppressed should be exerted, always within the law and 
by constitutional means, to regain lost privileges and protection. Too 
long denial of guaranteed rights is sure to lead to revolution — 
bloody revolution, where suffering must fall upon the innocent as well 
as the guilty. 

Expressing the hope that the better judgment and co-operation of 
citizens of the State over which you have presided so ably may enable 
you to secure a fair trial and punishment of all offenders, without dis- 



326 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

tinction of race or color or previous condition of servitude, and with- 
out aid from the Federal Government, but with the promise of such aid 
on the conditions named in the foregoing, I subscribe myself, very 
respectfully, vour obedient servant, 

U. S. GRANT. 
To the Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

In his letter to Senator Robertson, the Governor bore witness 
to the fact that many who had not been wont to condemn heartr 
ily past bloody occurrences in the South, were horrified' by the 
startling brutality of this case. The Charleston News mid Courier 
was outspoken in denunciation of it. The following extract from 
an article in that paper exhibits its sentiments regarding the Gov- 
ernor's letter to the President : 

This is not, in the usual sense of the words, "a call for troops"; it is 
rather the natural inquiry of a public ofidcer who, at a critical time, desires to know 
what outside aid he can rely on, when his own resources shall have been exhausted. 
No attempt is made to attach to one race or party, more than another, the responsi- 
bility for the apprehended disorder ; and no action on the part of the General Govern- 
ment is contemplated, unless the violence in question shall be " beyond the control of 
the State authorities." The State really has very little active power. In case that a 
band of negroes weje engaged in a riot, the white rifle clubs could be called on by the 
Executive to repress the disorder ; but there are no negro militia who could be, or 
dare be, moved against the whites, if they were riotous, and the white rifle clubs again 
would be the only reliance. Governor Chamberlain appears to think that a company 
i of United States soldiers will have a more sedative effect than rifle clubs or civil 
I posses. This was the position taken a few weeks ago by the newspapers that berate 
Governor Chamberlain for " calling for troops." These very journals, at the time of 
the Combahee troubles, were clamorous for troops, and were furious in their denunci- 
ation of Governor Chamberlain because he would not call for them. We object to 
military garrisons, at election times, on principle. The presence of soldiers at a poU- 
1 ing place is an indirect menace, and, as such, is an interference with the freedom of 
elections. We insist that the State, in every case, shall manage its own affairs in its 
own way, and we disapprove of the interference of soldiers, whether to put down a 
strike or to guard ballotboxes. This is a political principle with us, or we should not 
object to the sending of a company of United States soldiers to every courthouse in 
the State. The whites have no thought of killing anybody, or abusing anybody. The 
sympathies of the soldiers are with the whites, not with the blacks. And the quietest 
election we ever had in Charleston was when every polling place, at the request of 
Democrats, was guarded by troops. ... 

General M. C. Butler's statement, referred to by Governor 
Chamberlain as among the documents forwarded by him to the 
President, is in two parts, one a communication to the Columbia 
Register, the other a communication to the C\\:w\esto\\ Journal of 



ADMINISTRA TION. 327 

Commerce. The first is an explanation of his personal connection 
with the affair, the second a defence and justification of it. In 
the former he claims that he was in Hamburg on professional 
business solely, — namely, as counsel for the two white men 
against whom charges had been preferred. He acknowledges 
that he was informed before entering the town of the excitement 
prevailing. He narrates what he did toward allaying it, his efforts 
being wholly of the nature of advice to the colored men to sur- 
render their arms, which of course they were reluctant to do while 
the town was filling up with armed white men breathing vengeance. 
He drove to Augusta,, also on professional business, but in re- 
sponse to inquiries he notified the people there that he " thought 
a collision between the whites and blacks imminent and likely to 
take place." He remained until " after the firing of the negroes 
had ceased." His narrative continues : " I left the crowd arrest- 
ing the negroes. How many were killed, or how they were killed, 1. 
I do not know. This collision was the culmination of the system \ 
of insulting and outraging of white people which the negroes had 
adopted there for several years." 

In the second communication he defends the murders by the 
following reasoning: "The town had a negro Intendant, negro 
Aldermen, negro Marshals. . . . They had harbored thieves 
and criminals from every direction. They had arrested and fined 
some of the best and most peaceable citizens for the most trivial 
offences against their ordinances." He alleges that the guns they 
had were taken without authority from the custody of the person 
to whom they had been committed by the Governor. He then 
proceeds to justify the conduct of the mob thus : 

The negroes had assembled riotously, were in a state of armed resistance to the 
laws, and any citizen, or number of citizens, had the right to disperse the rioters and 
suppress the riot, and to use just so much force as was necessary to accomplish it, and 
if every negro engaged in the riot had been killed in the suppression, it would have been 
excusable if not justifiable. . . . Delay would have been fatal to the safety of the lives, 
families, and property of unoffending, peaceable citizens. Prompt, short, sharp, and 
decisive action wasnecessary under the dictates of that unwritten inalienable law known 
as self-preservation, the first of all laws. Some there may have been who were glad of an 
opportunity to punish those who had accumulated wrongs, insults, and umbrages upon 
them such as I have enumerated. I can sympathize with them if I cannot approve 
such a means of vindication. 



328 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Such was the apology for, and justification of, the Hamburg 
massacre by a leading Democratic politician of the State, one 
whose wish was law to the citizens of his county, a fore- 
most man in the " Straight-out " movement, who was chosen a 
United States Senator immediately after the Democrats organized 
a Legislature, and while he was yet unrelieved by any legal excul- 
pation from such guilt of participation in the affair as was alleged 
in the finding of the coroner's inquest. 

The nature of that finding is set forth in the following despatch 
published in the Charleston Ncius and Courier of August 2, 1876: 

Augusta (Ga.), Tuesday Night, August ist. 

Prince Rivers has not yet filed the verdict of the coroner's inquest, held at Ham- 
burg. He returned to Hamburg this morning. Parties in Aiken obtained a copy of 
the names embraced in the verdict. The following is a verbatim copy : 

Aiken men — R. J. Butler, Dr. Shaw, Rev. John Mealy, Thomas Butler, Harrison 
Butler [and thirty-five other men]. 

Edgefield men — M. C. Butler, Benjamin Tilman, Charles Glover, Frank Settles, 
Joseph Merriwether [and eight other men]. 

Georgia men — Thomas W. Carwile, Wm. Robertson, James Clark, Dish Ramey, 
John Smith, Garland A. Sneed, [and twenty-four other men]. 

Of these, seven, Messrs. R. J. Butler, Henry Getsen, Thomas Butler, Harrison 
Butler, John Lamar, Thomas Oliver, and John Oliver, are charged with murder in the 
first degree. All the others are charged with being accessories before the fact. The 
penalty, upon conviction, is the same in each case, but the accused may be bailed in 
the discretion of the presiding Judge. 

It is charged in the verdict that Moses Parks was killed by R. J. Butler ; James 
Cook by Henry Getsen, Thomas Butler, and Harrison Butler ; A. T. Attaway, Daniel 
Phillips, Hamp Stevens, and Alfred Minyard, by John Lamar, Thomas Oliver, and 
John Oliver. 

Warrants for the arrest of all the parties above named were issued by Prince Rivers, 
Trial Justice, and placed in the hands of Sheriff Jordan, of Aiken County. All these 
warrants charge the accused with having committed the crime of murder. The war- 
rants against the parties living in South Carolina will be served at once. The accused 
will offer bail in any amount, which it is expected will be accepted by Judge Maher. 
The warrants against the parties on this side of the river cannot be served without a 
requisition upon Governor Smith, which, it is said, will be made. The entire bar of 
Aiken has volunteered to defend the accused. 

Another telegram published the next day announced that 
those named in the finding had come in and delivered themselves 
up, and would go before Judge Maher on a motion for bail. The 
fact that persons thus accused of guilty participation in such a 
crime as the massacre at Hamburg, the revolting circumstances of 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 329 

which were undisputed, felt in no peril, voluntarily surrendered 
themselves, and commanded the volunteered support of " the en- 
tire bar," that is to say, all the white lawyers of the vicinage, in 
their defence, needs no enforcement of its significance as a revela- 
tion of the existing social conditions there ; and the degree of fear 
of the law which was entertained by the white race when the 
matter was one of killing negroes, needs no other enforcement 
than is supplied by the following official paper : 

•Columbia, S. C, September 6, 1876. 
Hon. D. H. Chai7iberlain, Governor, Columbia, S. C. : 

Dear Sir — It is due to you, as well as myself, that I should state 
why no action has been taken by me at the present term of the Court 
of General Sessions for Aiken County, in the matter of bringing to 
trial the persons accused of complicity in the murder of colored men 
at Hamburg on the night of the eighth of July last. 

I had been called North but a few days before the Court was to 
meet, by a family bereavement, but returned here expecting to go to 
Aiken to lay before the Grand Jury bills of indictment against such 
persons as seemed to have been engaged in these murders. 

On the day of my arrival here, I received a telegram from Judge 
Wiggins, ' then holding the Court at Aiken, in which he stated that he 
thought it best to have all of these cases continued without giving out 
bills. 

I had, before going North, determined, after full conference with 
Hon. D. T. Corbin, who had been employed to aid in the prosecution 
of these cases, that it would be neither practicable nor advisable to 
try them at the present term of the Court, even though bills should be 
found ; but that they ought to be continued until the next term of Court. 
Various reasons influenced us in coming to this conclusion. 

The witnesses on the part of the State are chiefly colored persons 
resident in Aiken County. This class of persons has become greatly 
alarmed and intimidated during the past few weeks by the presence of 
armed bodies of white men who attend meetings in their neighborhood. 
Whether they have reason to apprehend injury from these men or not 
it is needless to inquire, so long as it is apparent that they are alarmed 
and intimidated. 

While these witnesses continue to feel in this way, their attendance 
at Court could not be depended on ; and, even were they present, they 
would testify with reluctance and fear, and the value of their testimony 
would be greatly weakened. On this ground alone it would have been 
my duty to have moved to continue the cases. 

Again, since the time when many of the accused parties surrendered 
themselves and were admitted to bail, an exciting political contest has 

'- Judge Wiggins, one of those chosen on Black Thursday, had superseded Judge 
Maher. 



330 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

opened in this State, and the events connected with the Hamburg riot 
have been discussed by men of both parties and from different stand- 
points. The cases have thus come to have, to some extent, a political 
bearing, and the real issue, as to who are the guilty parties, has been 
overlooked. 

The attempt to try the cases while this political conflict rages would, 
in my opinion, have been equivalent to a trial by the passions and 
prejudices of juries, and not a trial by their calm, unbiassed judgments. 
This would be true whether the juries were composed of men of either 
or both political parties. 

As I concluded to move for a continuance of the cases until the 
next term of Court, had bills been found, I thought it advisable, in view 
of Judge Wiggins' telegram, to defer to his opinion and take no action 
at all at this term of Court. 

I was more inclined to do this because of the fact that a case is now 
pending in the Supreme Court of this State, in which the question is 
directly raised as to the legality of the present Grand Jury of Aiken 
County. Should the Court decide that the present Grand Jury is not 
a legal one, all bills found by it would be void, and new ones would 
have to be given out to another jury. 

Still, I should have taken the risk of a decision adverse to the State 
upon this question, had there been no other grounds for continuing the 
cases. 

In view, then, of all the facts surrounding these cases, I am confi- 
dent that the course I have taken is the one which it was best to fol- 
low, and that the interests of public justice will be better secured at the 
next term of the Court, when it is fair to suppose that the present politi- 
cal excitement will have subsided and the attendance of all the wit- 
nesses can be secured, than it can be now. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM STONE, 

Attorney General, S. C. 

Events of subsequent occurrence enabled the guilty agents 
and abettors of the bloody work at Hamburg to escape all pun- 
ishment for their crime at the hands of human justice. The race 
hatred, signalled into activity by the " Straight-outers " of Edge- 
field and Aiken, wreaked itself by many a grumous stain on the 
soil and fame of the State before November. What the Gover- 
nor dreadingly foreboded in his letter to the President, when this 
affair loomed in the murky sky of South Carolina politics, " a 
vast, tremendous, unformed spectre," became a terrible experience. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Call for an Early State Convention of the Democratic Party Issued in the Interest 
of the " Straight-outs"- — Ineffectual Efforts of the " Cooperationists " to Secure 
a Postponement until after the Republican Convention — " Watch and Wait " 
their Watchword — Judge Maher and Hon. George W. Williams Decline to be 
Candidates for the Democratic Nomination, and Advise that No Nomination be 
Made in Opposition to Governor Chamberlain — Letter of Hon. B. O. Duncan — 
County Conventions Opposed to Making a Nomination — Meeting of the State 
Convention — Questions of Policy Debated in Secret Sessions — Triumph of the 
"Straight-outs" — General Wade Hampton Nominated — The Charleston News 
and Courier Supports the Policy Its Judgment had Condemned. 

THE publication by the Charleston Ncivs and Courier of 
the series of articles in vindication of Governor Chamber- 
lain, and the Hamburg affair, which forced the Governor to pro- i 
claim his uncompromising- hostility to the violence sanctioned by 
many Democrats and not effectually condemned by any, were 
concurrent events that promoted and intensified the conflict within 
the Democratic party. The passions and prejudices aroused by 
the revival of bloody race persecutions were unfavorable to a just 
consideration of the argument addressed to reason and patriotic 
interest. While the excitement so fomented was at its height, 
the Democratic State Executive Committee issued a call for 
a State Convention at Columbia on the 15th of August. The 
apparent motive of this action was to force the Democratic party 
to determine upon its course before the meeting of the Republi- 
can Convention, and thus forestall the influence which the re- 
nomination of Governor Chamberlain, then daily becoming prob- \ 
able, might exert upon Democrats more concerned to secure hon- 
est administration of the State Government than to strive for a 
doubtful partisan victory. The " Cooperationists " were taken 
by surprise, but at once they began an agitation to induce the 
Committee to reconsider its action and postpone the date of the 
Democratic Convention until after the Republican Convention. 

331 



332 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Failing in this, they sought to secure an expression in the county 
Conventions, when choosing delegates to the State Convention, 
which would compel the latter body to postpone the nomination 
of candidates until the Republicans had shown their hand. 

In this effort they obtained a degree of success which, until 
the meeting of the Convention, appeared to be decisive. While 
it was no secret that the favorite candidate of the " Straight-outs" 
was General Wade Hampton, they flattered the " Cooperation- 
ists" by bringing into prominence as candidates men whose sym- 
pathies were known to be with that party. One of these was 
Judge Maher, a leading citizen and lawyer, a life-long Democrat, 
and the Judge who was superseded by Wiggins through the ac- 
tion of the Legislature on " Black Thursday," But Judge Maher, 
by means of an interview published in the News and Courier, pub- 
licly repudiated the seductive proposal. His judgment regarding 
Governor Chamberlain's Administration and the proper course of 
the Democratic party was emphatically expressed. 

Reporter. Judge Maher, you have been nominated, or at least you have been 
suggested, as the Democratic candidate for Governor of South Carolina. Would 
you mind stating your views upon the subject — I mean whether you would accept 
such a nomination. 

Judge Maher. I could not, and would not, under any circumstances accept the 
nomination for Governor, not if I could be assured of the vote of every man, woman, 
and child in the State. In the first place, I could not afford it; and again, as you 
know, politics are not congenial to me. I am a fireside man, and prefer the enjoy- 
ments of home to public life. 

In the second place I do not think that any Conservative or Democratic Governor 
could accomplish any thing in the Executive chair, unless we could change the char- 
acter and complexion of the Legislature of the State. This, in my opinion, can 
hardly be effected. A large number of honest men may be elected, but scarcely a 
majority, and even with a strong minority of Democrats, I do not think that a Demo- 
cratic Governor could effect any material reforms, because he could not control a suffi- 
cient number of Republican votes. Under existing circumstances, and with the Legis- 
lature constituted as it is, Governor Chamberlain could do the most good for the 
State, and could effect the most reforms. 

If Gen. Kershaw or Gen. Hampton had been Governor for the past two years, 
neither of them could have effected as much reform or benefited the State as much as 
Governor Chamberlain has done. It would not have been in their power. Governor 
Chamberlain has been true to his pledges, and I believe that under any circumstances 
he will continue the same course of reform that has marked his Administration. It is 
to his interest and that of his party to do so. I don't believe that he pursued his 
policy of reform for the purpose of pleasing the Democrats, but because he be- 



ADMINISTRATION. 333 

lieved it to be right, and because it was to his own interest and that of his party to 
do so. 

Reporter. What are ybur views as to the " Straight-out " policy ? 

Judge Maker. Well, as I have before stated, I don't think that my views are of 
much consequence. But it seems to me that it would be just as easy to reform the 
Legislature as to elect a Governor, and it would accomplish more practical benefits. 
If it were in our power to elect a Governor we should be under no obligations to 
the Republicans, as we could then secure a majority in the Legislature. But, as I 
said before, I have bestowed very little thought on politics. I have been pressed 
with the duties of my ofifice, and have always made it a point not to mingle in politics. 

Reporter. What are your views as to the expediency of making nominations on 
the 15th? 

Judge Maker. I am decidedly opposed to any nominations on the 15th. It 
would be premature, and the Convention was evidently called at that date with the 
intention of forcing " Straight-out " nominations. I am at a loss to see the good of 
it. It can answer no purpose except to commit the Democrats to the " Straight-out " 
policy, an exceedingly unwise measure, at this time at least. 

Reporter. Do you think that a majority of the counties can be carried by the 
" Straight-outs " ? 

Judge Maker. I can't, of course, undertake to speak for the other counties. In 
Barnwell the Democrats seem to be very much enthused, and, although the Radicals 
have a rnajority of about 2,000, the people seem to think that they had better run the 
risk of a total defeat than to make any compromise on a county ticket. The real 
truth is that, in this county, the Radicals have never offered a man fit to vote for. 

Reporter. Do you think. Judge, that Mr. Chamberlain will get the Republican 
nomination ? 

Judge Maker. Judging from his victory in the State Convention, some time ago, 
I think that he will get it. If he does, I think that the Democrats had better hang 
on to him, as I see no chance of defeating him, unless there is a bolt, which is ex- 
ceedingly doubtful. Governor Chamberlain could probably do more good to the tax- 
payers than anybody else, because he could control Republican votes in the Legisla- 
ture. As to the counties, the leading men must know best what to do. In Barnwell 
County there is scarcely any use to make a compromise, as the other side never offer 
such a man as Governor Chamberlain, nor do they ever offer anybody that a respecta- 
able man could vote for, and I think, therefore, that we had better run the risk and 
nominate county officers. 

Another of these gentlemen was Hon. George W. WiUiams, 
an old Charleston merchant, very wealthy, and highly esteemed 
throughout the State. Knowledge of this use of his name 
coming to him in his summer retreat, he sent the following com- 
munication to the News and Courier : 

Mountain Home, Nacoochee, Ga., 
July 28, 1876. 
To tke Editor of the News and Courier : 

Having received numerous inquiries desiring to know whether I would accept a 
nomination for Governor of South Carolina, I beg leave to say to my friends that 



334 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

I have no political aspirations, and would not exchange the independent life of 
a civihan for the ofifice of Chief Magistrate of the United States. In my judg- 
ment the Democratic party ought not to make a nomination for Governor. We 
are not in a condition to enter into an excited political contest. I honestly believe 
that Governor Chamberlain can do more for South Carolina, in and out of the State, 
than any other man. 

Yours ver)' respectfully, 

GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 

In publishing this letter the Nezus and Cotirie)' said : 

No citizen of South Carolina has more at stake than Mr. Williams has ; nor will 
any one citizen gain as much as he by the completion of the work of administra- 
tion reform in South Carolina. . . . The most influential bankers and merchants in 
Charleston hold substantially the same opinions as Mr. Williams. They have no 
axes to grind. They are not officeholders or officeseekers. 

The following passage from a public letter written to the 
Charleston News and Courier by the Hon. B. O. Duncan, exhibits 
the feeling of a native South Carolinian of high education, charac- 
ter, and social position, who in national politics had acted with 
the Republican party. He was appointed Consul at Naples in 
1869, and still held that ofifice: 

Governor Chamberlain can, as I believe, and in this many of the most enlightened 
Democrats agree with me, do more for the good of the State in the present crisis than 
any other man, Republican or Democrat, could do. Were it even possible to elect a 
Democratic Governor, I presume the blindest "Straight-outer" will not pretend that 
it will be possible to elect also a Democratic Legislature. If not, their Governor 
would have his hands tied hard and fast. But with Governor Chamberlain it would be 
quite different. If the Democrats will do as the News and Courier advocates, i. e., 
make no nomination for Governor, but support Chamberlain, and then throughout the 
State spare no effort to send honest, moderate, and able men to the Legislature, they 
may, together with the Chamberlain Republicans, get a majority. In counties where 
they have a majority of voters, let them send their own men of course. But it would be 
good policy even there to send as moderate, sagacious men as possible. In counties 
where the majority is on the other side, every advantage of any division should be 
taken, and every effort be made to compromise and form fusion tickets with the better 
elements of the Radicals. With the example of the fusion delegation from Charleston in 
the recent Legislature, I need not recall the advantages to be gained by such a course. 
Not only would the honesty and the capacity of the Legislature be increased, but bet- 
ter and more friendly relations between the two races would be established thereby in 
every county where it succeeded or even where it was undertaken. I have conversed 
as freely as I could with the colored people wherever I have met them, and I am of 
the decided opinion that they are ripe for such a movement if undertaken in good faith 
and with fairness. 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 335 

" Watch and Wait " was the counsel of the " Cooperation- 
ists," and the phrase became a watchword. When the county 
conventions met it plainly appeared that the course of the Demo- 
cratic Executive Committee was disapproved. In but a few coun- 
ties was it specifically commended ; others elected del'egates with- 
out instructions, leaving them to exercise their own discretion at 
the State Convention ; but in many counties express and empha- 
tic opposition to the policy of making nominations before the 
Republicans had developed their policy was expressed in resolu- 
tions adopted. Such resolutions, however, were accompanied by 
a pledge to support the action of the Convention. On the 8th of 
August the News and Courier said : 

The telegraphic despatches from thirteen counties, in eleven of which the county 
Democratic Conventions assembled yesterday, bring the welcome news of a hearty 
popular endorsement of the recommendation to postpone the nominations for State 
oiificers until the plans and purposes of the Radicals shall be known. Only two coun- 
ties took decided ground in favor of immediate action, while in eight counties there 
was a positive expression in favor of the " watch and wait " policy. The State Con- ' 
vention will be composed of 158 delegates, and over 70 of the delegates can already 
be set down as in favor of adjournment without making nominations. Other counties 
yet to be heard from will swell the roll. 

The Democratic Convention met in Columbia on the 15th of \ 
August and did not adjourn until the 17th. The issue between 1 
the two factions was at once raised in the choice of a presiding | 
officer. The Charleston News and Courier of the i6th reported ' 
the vote as 65 for Col. C. H. Simonton, of Charleston, and 78 for 
Gen. W. W. Harllee, of Marion ; the latter representing the policy ' 
of making nominations immediately. The debate with regard to 
the policy to be pursued was carried on in secret session. On 
the 17th the News and Courier gave the following brief account of 
the proceedings and their result : 

It was half-past eleven o'clock when the convention went into secret session, 
and the doors remained closed until half-past six with a recess of about one hour for 
dinner. The debate is said to have been long and exciting, but was conducted in the 
best spirit. Speeches were made by Gen. Butler, Gen. Gary, Capt. De Pass, and 
Capt. Lipscomb in favor of immediate nomination, and by Maj. E. W. Moise, of 
Sumter, Gen. Connor, and others, in favor of postponement. At about half-past six 
the doors were thrown open, and the following resolution was announced as adopted 
by a vote of 88 yeas, 64 nays. 



33^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Resolved, That this Convention do now proceed to nominate candidates for 
Governor and other State officers. 

Reports were current at the time that the debate was heated 
and bitter, and the division much closer than these figures in- 
dicate. Whether or not any other vote was taken, the statement 
of the News and Courier with reference to the final action is doubt- 
less entitled to full credit. General Wade Hampton was selected 
to head the Democratic ticket. It is not true, as has sometimes 
been said, that Governor Chamberlain was voted for as a candidate 
in the Convention. He neither sought, nor did anybody seek for 
him, a Democratic nomination. When it was determined not to 
wait to see whether he would be nominated by the Republicans, 
it was determined to nominate a Democrat. 

The two causes that brought about this decision have already 
been referred to. They were, first, the Hamburg massacre, and, 
second, the influence of the presidential election. Mr. Tilden had 
been nominated for President by the Democratic National Con- 
vention held in St. Louis in June. The hope of his election lay 
in securing a " solid South," and he was encouraged by the 
^' Straight-outers " to believe that they could secure to him the 
electoral vote of the State if a party nomination for Governor was 
made. The promoters of this policy adroitly got letters written 
by prominent Democrats of the North advising a separate nomi- 
nation, and leading Democrats from other Southern States which 
had been " reclaimed " to the Democratic party by a policy of 
intimidation and fraud, were present to counsel and instruct the 
members of the Convention regarding the methods of overcoming 
Republican majorities. That which the News and Courier had 
said could be accomplished " only by armed force," it was resolved 
to attempt, — a resolution which had brutal and bloody conse- 
quences in the ensuing campaign, subverted the rule of the ma- 
jority, and entailed a continuing wrong by which the political life 
of the State is still degraded and debauched. 

How this action was contemporaneously regarded by leaders 
of conservative sentiment in the North will be apparent from the 
following expressions of two journals, one Republican and one In- 
dependent, and both disposed to regard Mr. Tilden's nomination 
as a sign that the Democratic party was facing toward reform. 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 337 

[From the New York Evening Post?^ 
li is impossible to regard the course of the Democrats in South Carolina as any- 
thing but reactionary. What is needed in that State more than anywhere else is the 
restoration of peace and order. If the Democrats had thought more of this end than, 
of parti-ian success they would have done one of three things. They would have 
united to strengthen the hands of Governor Chamberlain, who, if he has not abso- 
lutely succeeded, has done more than anybody else since the war to restore tranquil- 
lity. This, we believe, would have been their wisest course. Or they would have 
nominated an independent Republican whom they could trust. This would have 
shown more plainly than any words could do their sincere acceptance of political 
changes. Or, if they must choose a Democrat, they would have nominated the one 
who had been least identified with the old order. This would have shown that they 
were resolved not to take a step backward. Instead of doing any one of these three 
things, they have nominated a candidate who, however worthy personally, represents the 
past more exactly than any other citizen of the State. The name of Wade Hampton, 
not only in South Carolina, but throughout the country, stands for the old order. 
The nomination of no man mentioned for Governor would do more to revive ques- 
tions which ought to be obsolete, and to restore party lines which ought to be oblit- 
erated. It is not likely that Hampton will be elected, but his coming to the front is 
in harmony with many other proceedings of the reactionary Democrats. They seem 
to be straining every nerve to consolidate the voters of the country into the old-time 
divisions, although it is plain that, if they are so consolidated, the Democratic can- 
vass is a hopeless one. 



[From the New York Nation}^ 
I'he South Carolina Democrats, in the nomination of General Wade Hampton for 
the governors liip,, have shown that they possess their full share of the party capacity 
for blundering. This step will make it comparatively easy for the Radicals not to 
renominate Governor Chamberlain, and ii is plain as possible that there is no man 
who can be elected who can render the State, and especially the property-holders of 
the State, so much service as Governor Chamberlain. The corrupt element among 
the Radicals hate him, and will prevent his renomination if they can, but would 
probably have been forced to submit to it if the Conser\'atives had been wise and put 
off their nomination until the Radicals had made theirs. The platfonn on which 
General Hampton has been nominated contains all the things that proper platforms 
have to contain in these days — acceptance of the Constitutional Amendments and 
other results of the war, devotion to equal rights, love of peace and order, immeas- 
urable hatred of theft, fraud, and other forms of villany, so that the only thing the 
Republican organs can say against it is that it is " hypocritical." General Hampton's 
letter of acceptance is equally unexceptionable, but then no letter or platform can 
make the General himself unexceptionable. No matter what views he may now hold 
as to expediency, he is neither a statesman nor a politician, nor a man of conciliatory 
disposition, nor any thing but a soldier and Southern gentleman of the old school, to 
whom niggers, Yankees, schools, roads, free labor, and free speech are naturally al- 
most as hateful as to the Pope himself. To put him up as a candidate, this of all 

' At this time the Evening Post and the Nation were quite distinct journals. 



S5^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

years, on the eve of a Presidential election and close after the Hamburg massacre, 
seems to indicate a constitutional love of mischief. 

That this action was an open departure from the plain course 
of a true and sure reform pohcy for the sake of a doubtful parti- 
san advantage, no argument is needed to show ; or if any were 
needed, it is furnished in the clear logic, conclusive as a demon- 
stration in geometry, of the following extract from the Charleston 
News and Courier, when replying (July 6, 1876) to the charge that 
support of Chamberlain was support of the worst element of the 
"corrupt constituency" which elected him. 

Now the corrupt leaders of the ignorant negroes nominated Mr. Chamberlain for 
Governor, and if they continued to support him, if he had remained at peace with 
them, it could be truthfully said that to support him is to support them, and through 
them their ignorant, not corrupt, constituency. But the fact is that these leaders are 
the bitterest foes that Governor Chamberlain has, and they have been so ever since 
his election. There is not one of the gang who has not fought him to the death. In 
the Legislature and in convention, on the streets and in such sheets as the National 
Reptiblican, the Whittemores, Pattersons, Swailses, Bowens, Whippers, Maxwells, 
Worthingtons, and Carpenters have been, and are, the relentless opponents of the 
Executive. We do not recall one conspicuous rascal in South Carolina who is not as 
savage in his denunciation of Mr. Chamberlain as the Democratic party are in their 
denunciation of Radical misrule in South Carolina. Now, it is evident to us, and it 
should be evident to every thoughtful man, that whatever Democratic support is 
given Governor Chamberlain, instead of being a support of the infamous Radical 
leaders, is really the most effective opposition to them. In supporting Mr. Chamber- 
lain we oppose his enemies, who are likewise the enemies of the public. If we desire 
to support the corrupt Radicals we can do it at present in but one way, and that is 
by opposing Mr. Chamberlain. 

In this lies the reason for advocating the waiving of Democratic opposition to Mr. 
Chamberlain's election. Should the Democracy run a Democratic candidate for 
Governor the fight will be strictly a party one, and in every county the worst of the 
Radicals, who have most popular strength, will be set against the Democratic candi- 
dates. Mr. Chamberlain, when elected, will be surrounded by the same gang of 
plunderers who obstinately opposed every reform measure in the last General Assem- 
bly, and these plunderers will be stronger than ever before. If Mr. Chamberlain's 
nomination be not opposed by the Democrats he can, and will, use all his influence 
to improve the character of the Legislature ; but he will have no influence in that 
direction if the contest be " Straight-out," for then the leaders in the several coun- 
ties, no matter what he may say or do, will feel that they are fighting for political 
existence, and will stop at nothing that may be necessary to carry the election. 
There is, it seems to us, no plan of action that will as certainly give aid and comfort 
to the public enemy, and as surely perpetuate the rule of ignorance and vice in South 
Carolina, as opposition to Mr. Chamberlain. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



339 



Yet when the Democratic Convention had decided to thus 
" give aid and comfort to the public enemy," the News and Cou- 
rier wheeled into line, and from that date labored with tremen- 
dous zeal to refute the arguments and counteract the influence of 
its wiser and nobler judgment. What Washington in his Fare- 
well Address fitly called "the baleful influence of party spirit"' 
never had an apter illustration. 




CHAPTER XXL 



Some Important Happenings during the Summer of 1S76 — The Strikes in Colleton 
and Beaufort — The Governor's Prompt and Effectual Action — Centennial of the 
Defence of Fort Moultrie — Speeches by the Governor — Cordiality of His Recep- 
tion — Governor Chamberlain Opens the Campaign for the Republican Party by a 
Speech at Beaufort — He Announces that He will be a Candidate for Renomination 
by the Republican Convention — He Goes through the State Addressing Republi- 
can Meetings — Hostile Demonstrations by Organized Armed Bodies of Democrats 
— The Republican State Convention Called — Dr. Redfield Explains the Meaning 
of the Military Demonstrations of Democrats — The Governor Announces the 
Principles That will Govern Him in Appointing Commissioners of Election — 
Political Riot in Charleston — Republicans at Fault — Condemned by the Gov- 
ernor. 

BEFORE resuming the narrative of the development of that 
desperate poHtical conflict which is the theme of most of 
the following chapters, certain happenings antedating the Demo- 
cratic State Convention, and having importance with reference to 
the subsequent record, claim attention. 

The events of the summer of 1876 tested in various ways and 
in an extraordinary degree the firmness of the Governor's motive 
to deal fairly with all classes of citizens. In May there was an 
alarming strike of agricultural laborers in Colleton County, 
the negroes on certain plantations quitting their work and organ- 
izing to force the hands on other plantations to join them in a 
demand for higher wages. The planters feared the loss of their 
crops, the destruction of their property, and possible personal 
injury, if the excitement was not allayed. Fortunately the civil 
authorities, by energetic pacific means, prevented any serious 
conflict. On the 26th of May the Sheriff of the county tele- 
graphed to the Governor ; " Many are disposed to work, but are 
prevented by the others. They have a large meeting to-morrow. 
I will attend and try to persuade them to resume work at the old 
prices. The whites have not been molested." To him the Gov- 
ernor immediately sent the following despatch : 
\ 340 



ADMINISTRATION. 34 1 

Exert all your powers to restore peace. Speak for me to the meeting 
to-morrow, and say to them that they have a right to refuse to work for 
low wages, but they have no right to make others join them against 
their will ; that if they molest those who are willing to work they vio- 
late the law, and will be arrested and punished. I am willing to over- 
look all that has been done thus far, but they must stop all disorder and 
all interference with those who are willing to work, or I shall be com- 
pelled to adopt whatever measures are necessary to enforce the law. 
I sympathize deeply with all who are struggling for a bare subsistence ; 
but wrong never brings right, and it is wrong to trouble any man who 
is willing to work, no matter how low the wages. Advise the planters 
from me to act with all possible liberality towards the laborers. I can- 
not of course dictate terms, but let them be fair and just and it will be 
advantageous to all. Keep me informed often and fully. 

These counsels and warnings were potent for the time being; 
but late in August a more serious difficulty occurred in Beaufort 
County, the laborers on the rice plantations along the Combahee 
River striking for an advance of fifty per cent, in wages, at a time 
when the immediate gathering of the crop was necessary in order 
to secure it at all. The strike began in the abandonment of work 
on one of the plantations by about two hundred negroes, who 
forthwith, armed with clubs and horsewhips, proceeded to other \ 
plantations and forced the hands to join them. Some who refused \ 
were imprisoned in outbuildings under guard. The Sheriff and a \ 
posse made a few arrests, but were overpowered, and the prisoners \ 
were released. When the Governor was notified of the condition , 
of affairs, he at once gave orders to Robert Smalls, who had com- | 
mand of a company of militia, to assist the Sheriff. But many i 
members of Small's company were among the strikers. Thirteen 
of the ringleaders, acting under advice, gave themselves up, but 
they were discharged the next morning by the Justice before 
whom they were taken. The whites then began collecting for 
safety. The assistance of volunteers was offered from Charleston, 
and the Governor said he would accept it unless another effort on 
the part of the constituted authorities should be effectual. On 
the 24th of August the Governor telegraphed to the Nezvs and 
Courier that he was advised that " the mob is completely dis- 
persed, the ringleaders arrested, and all is quiet," adding, " I have 
directed that the law be fully enforced at all hazards. I trust 
that all trouble is over, but if not, the law shall be enforced." 



342 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Neither the brutal outrage upon negroes at Haniburg, then 
a fresh embarrassment, nor the action of the Democratic State 
Convention, depriving him of expectation of poHtical support 
from the whites, affected in any degree his resolute insistance 
that the colored race should refrain from all unlawful acts. 

The Governor was present in Charleston at the observance of 
the centennial of the heroic defence of Fort Moultrie. Much 
preparation had been made for a suitable celebration of this 
famous incident of the revolutionary war, and intervening es- 
trangements and hostilities added a peculiar significance to an oc- 
casion which would revive on Southern soil memories of the time 
when South Carolina and Massachusetts were united in a common 
patriotic purpose. By a Proclamation issued on the 27th of May 
the people of the State were invited " to consider the day a pub- 
lic holiday on which ordinary business shall be suspended." Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain's presence and addresses at the Lexington and 
Mecklenburg celebrations had given the State an honorable 
prominence, which was proudly appreciated, and there was an 
earnest desire on the part of South Carolinians to show forth 
their cordial sympathy with the citizens of other States of the 
" old thirteen " by proper commemoration of the events within 
her own borders which were a distinguished part of the national 
glory. Delegations came from all parts of the country to testify 
their gladness and friendship, and especially welcome were the 
Northern military companies, the '' Tigers," from Boston, and the 
"Old Guard," from New York. 

During this festival of exalted sentiment Governor Chamber- 
lain was conspicuously honored, although he took no other than 
an official and incidental part in the proceedings. At a banquet 
given to the guests of the State in Hibernian Hall, Charleston, 
Major G. L. Buist presided, with General Wade Hampton seated 
on his right, and Governor Chamberlain on his left. Governor 
Chamberlain responded to a toast to the State of South Carolina. 
This extract from his brief speech, with the indications of its fav- 
orable reception, is from the report in the Nezvs and Courier : 

\ South Carolina welcomes you to-night because there is in the 

hearts of all her sons a desire for concord and union. [Applause.] 
Though not a native, I know what feelings have been subdued in their 



ADMINISTRA TION. 343 

breasts, and I know enough to assure you that when South Carolina 
pledges you welcome, in the interest of unity and peace, she means 
what she says. [Prolonged applause.] Whatever sacrifices have been 
made ; whatever prejudices have been crushed out ; whatever mem- 
ories have been forgotten, she recognizes herself a factor in our nation- 
ality, and she is determined to do her duty. [Applause.] In conclu- 
sion I need only say : " South Carolina, let her future only be worthy 
of her past." [Loud and continued applause.] 

General Wade Hampton in his speech on this occasion, said : 

Misconstruction has been the great source of mistrust between the North and 
South, and we wish you, gentlement of New York and Massachusetts, to correct it. 
We believed we had the right to secede, and we did it ; but I declare to you to-night, 
on the honor of a soldier and gentleman, in good faith and sincerity, that we consider 
the decision of war as final, and we accept the Constitution as it is. Go back and tell 
your people what you have seen, and not what you may have heard. I have spoken 
to you frankly on this subject, because between men who have been enemies there can 
be no perfect peace which is not based on perfect candor and sincerity. 

There were many other speeches, and the report of the affair 
says, in conclusion : " Loud calls were made to bring out Gover- 
nor Chamberlain again, but to no purpose." 

On Sullivan's Island, where the formal ceremonies of the oc- 
casion took place (June 28th), Governor Chamberlain ; General 
J. B. Kershaw, the orator of the day ; General Hunt, of the 
United States Army ; General W. G. De Saussure, of Charleston ; 
William Gilmore Sims, and other distinguished citizens and 
guests were entertained by Major Gayer, the Intendant of the 
town. At the close of the dinner the Charleston Riflemen, a 
select company of volunteer militia, marched to the door of the 
dining-room, and gave " three cheers and a tiger " for Governor 
Chamberlain. The Governor, in acknowledging the compliment, 
said that since his election he had been cheered and upheld in the 
performance of duty by the support and encouragement received 
from good people of all classes in the community, and especially 
from those belonging to a different political party. ' This com- 
pliment," he added, " from the citizen soldiery of South Carolina 
to a man who is not a South Carolinian nerves me to say that I 
pledge myself to support that candidate for Governor of the State 
who will carry the banner of reform." The crowd had by this 
time been increased by members of the visiting companies from 
New York and Boston. General Kershaw was next called out. 



344 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

and in his remarks said : " As a Carolinian I appreciate the efforts 
that have been made by Governor Chamberlain to effect reforms 
in the administration of the State Government, and no one will 
give him a more cordial and hearty support than myself." 

In the formal ceremonies, the President of the day. Major 
G. L. Buist, called upon the Governor to make the introductory 
address. His few words were charged with the significance of the 
occasion as a symbol of national Union. 

Fellow -Citizens : — We have assembled to-day and here to commemo- 
rate an event of high significance to South Carolina and the American 
Union — an event which illustrated American valor and patriotism, 
and gave hope and confidence to the men who were then entering 
upon their momentous struggle for civil freedom and national inde- 
pendence. This spot is consecrated to valor and freedom. This air is 
redolent of self-sacrifice and patriotic devotion. In the name of South 
Carolina, and of all South Carolinians, I welcome you to the fellowship 
of this hour, to the fraternity of this memorial of national unity. We 
stand, indeed, on the soil of South Carolina ; but this occasion, its 
spirit, its lesson, its voice, is confined to no State. It is a part of the 
common Jieritage of all Americans, aye, it belongs to all men every- 
where who feel the thrill of martial ardor or are touched by the story of 
heroic devotion. Moultrie and Jasper are no longer local heroes ; 
they have been admitted to the great Pantheon of the heroes of all 
ages and nations. 

A welcome, deep, earnest, overflowing, then, to all who are with us 
to-day : to you of Massachusetts, who bring to us cheer from the soil 
of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill ; to you of New York, 
whose patriotic pride boasts of your Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga ; 
to you of Georgia, and you of whatever State beneath the broad folds 
of our national flag, and within the sacred bond of our undivided and 
indivisible Union. You come not on an errand of war. Sweet peace 
smiles upon all to-day. You come not to aid a struggling cause. You 
come to honor the martyrs of a cause which has long since triumphed 
over all its foes — the cause of American independence. 

We desire that this celebration shall promote peace, fraternity, 
good-will among all Americans. The valor of our fathers made the 
event which we celebrate one hundred years ago "the bright morning 
star and harbinger of American independence." We desire that this 
day shall unite us all in new bonds of devotion to the nation which a 
century of time has now built up and perfected. 

While with reverent and grateful hearts we assemble to honor this 
event, to recall its story, to cherish all its memories and lessons, let us 
never forget that the struggle which opened here one hundred years 
ago was the struggle for American independence and National freedom. 
This event, this day, belongs to all Americans. Massachusetts and 
New York, Virginia and Georgia, the oldest and the youngest, the 



ADMINISTRA TION. 345 

greatest and the humblest in our sisterhood of States, share in the 
glory of this battlefield and the renown of this day. 

Let, then, this day be honored by a deep and sincere spirit of 
American patriotism. I invoke the genius of that unselfish valor and 
self-sacrifice which gave victory to our fathers here, to fill all our hearts. 

'' Peace hath her victories not less renowned than war." Let this 
day record a victory of peace, not less auspicious for the cause of 
American freedom than the victory won on this spot one hundred 
years ago by the arms of Jasper and Moultrie. 

An incident that followed the delivery of the oration by Gen- 
eral Kershaw vividly illustrates the esteem in which the Governor 
was then held. The account of it was given in the News and 
Courier as follows : 

The oration was received with repeated rounds of applause, and at its conclusion 
the speaker stepped forward and said : " Since concluding my remarks to you, gentle- 
men, it has struck me that a certain portion of them, in which I alluded to the sad 
political condition of our State, might have been misunderstood and accepted as a re- 
flection upon my honored friend who sits here to-day (pointing to Governor Chamber- 
lain). Let me assure him and you that my language is carefully worded, and, if it is. 
closely examined, it will be seen that my remarks refer to the condition of the State 
prior to the time that Governor Chamberlain assumed the charge of her interests." 
[Great applause.] 

Governor Chamberlain smilingly arose from his chair, advanced two or three feet 
to the front of the stage, and said : " Gentlemen, it is needless for me to say that I 
have detected nothing in the words of General Kershaw that I do not recognize as the 
sincere utterance of a true heart. I could not expect, indeed it is impossible, that 
General Kershaw, so brave upon the battlefield of war, could be unjust upon the 
peaceful field of this day." [Immense cheering.] 

In July, Governor Chamberlain began an extended tour of the 
State, making addresses to large and deeply interested assemblies. 
of Republicans in support of the principles and candidates of the 
National Republican Party, and in defence of his Administration : 
in South Carolina as a Republican Administration. In the ) 
first of this series of addresses, delivered at Beaufort, July i6th,, ; 
he discussed the history, relations, and tendencies of the two j 
great parties in a broad and thorough manner, enforcing the con- ^ 
sideration that the Republican party was the party of freedom, 
the party which from its birth had been opposed to slavery, which 
had accomplished the destruction of that wrong, and which, if con- 
tinued in power, would " cure the evils of the present hour." 
While courteous throughout to the Democratic party and its 



34^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

leaders, he was unequivocal in his profession of belief in, and 
fidelity to, the Republican party, and in the assertion that its 
success in the nation and the State was the safest guaranty of 
freedom, equal rights, and good government. One or two brief 
extracts will sufificiently exhibit the spirit and tenor of this portion 
of the address. 

I am a Republican, and I am a Republican only because I believe 
the principles of the Republican party, if honestly and faithfully carried 
out in our State and National Government, will give the greatest degree 
of prosperity, happiness, and good-will to the people of South Carolina 
and the country at large; If I believed there was any thing in the creed 
of the Republican party which added a feather's weight to the burden 
of man, woman, or child, I would not be a Republican, for it is no part 
of the creed of an honest man that wishes well to his fellow-men to seek 
to build himself up on the wrongs of others. I am free to say to every 
man who listens to me here, that although his condition in life may 
have been and is widely different to mine ; although some of you may 
never have read the books that I have, or had the privileges or the 
opportunity for culture that I have had from my youth, yet I can say 
to you, it has never been in my heart, nor never will be, to say that I 
should have a single right, privilege, or immunity under the govern- 
ment of my State which the humblest and poorest man should not have 
also. [Cheers.] This is Republicanism — freedom, justice, and equal- 
ity ; civil and political privileges for all men ; chains and fetters for 
no man. ... I am calling your attention to these facts because I 
want you to know why I am still a Republican, and why you should 
stand by the party which gave you freedom, that Avill build you up into 
the stature of true civil freedom and manhood. But having your physi- 
cal fetters that bound you struck off is not half of freedom. I sometimes 
think my fellow-citizens have escaped from physical slavery only to 
plunge into a slavery more hopeless. I want you to understand why 
you are Republicans. I do not want you to be Republicans because 
Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, but because you believe in the 
principles of the party as Abraham Lincoln understood and believed in 
them. We talk about the dangers of an ignorant ballot, but to-day, in 
presence of the world, if I had to choose between an ignorant ballot 
a.nd an educated ballot controlled by i)rejudice, I would say give me 
the free ballot and I can make it an intelligent ballot. The only way 
to work out of the difficulties that now surround you is to accept free- 
dom for every man in all its length and breadth, and trust that freedom 
will build up and lead the people into intelligence, frugality, and all the 
civil virtues. 

The larger part of the speech was devoted to advocacy of the 
principles and policy of the National Republican Party, the re- 
mainder to the aspect of State affairs, and in this speech he an- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 347 

nounced for the first time that he would be a candidate for 
renomination. It was early and defiant notice to the politicians 
who had antagonized him, and who, as he well knew, were con- 
spiring to humiliate him and cast him out of the party, that he 
accepted the issue made by them, and intended, if possible, to de- 
feat their schemes and secure an approval of his Administration 
from the party that elected him. He was speaking in Beaufort, 
a city he had never before visited. A large majority of its popu- 
lation belonged to the colored race, and the same Whipper whose 
election to the bench he had twice thwarted was their acknowl- 
edged leader. These are circumstances to be borne in mind while 
reading what he said regarding State politics. 

. . . I have already alluded to the fact that I have been charged 
with the duties of Chief Executive for almost two years. You voted for 
me in Beaufort, and my election was as much due to you as to any peo- 
ple in the State, and I therefore come here to submit to your judgment 
my conduct. I am here to listen to any charges and complaints, and 
to answer them, not in a spirit of defiance, not in a spirit of rebuke, 
but in a spirit of one who understands that what the people have given 
me, the people have the right to take away, and for the trust placed in 
my hands they have the right to call me to account. Two years ago 
your convention nominated me at Columbia for Governor ; put me 
upon a platform upon which was written from beginning to end, reform. 
We admitted that in the six years which preceded that time, corruption 
and intolerable abuses had grown up, and we resolved that they should 
be removed, and that good government should be restored in the place 
of bad government ; that the laws should be administered without favor, 
that the public treasure should be honestly used ; that the taxes should 
be reduced to the lowest possible point. You placed that duty on me, 
and I have borne it always in mind, and I believe I have carried those 
pledges, which you laid down in the platform, into execution. I have 
labored with but comparative success, I admit, but I am not here to dis- 
cuss the causes of that failure. I have labored with only partial success 
to reduce taxes, to expend the money with honesty and economy, and 
to fill the offices with honest men. Something has been done, how- 
ever. The Republican party to-day, instead of struggling under a 
weight of shame and disgrace that covered it two years ago, is looked 
upon by the country, by impartial men, as a party that is endeavor- 
ing to administer its functions with honesty. I have been subjected 
to a great amount of criticism by prominent men in my own party. 
I say to you it is the wish closest to my heart, and has been, to 
keep the Republican party united and harmonious — the harmony of 
honesty, freedom, peace, and good government. You remember that 
the great reformer, the Saviour himself, said his doctrine was first the 
sword, and not until the sword had done its work would peace come. 



348 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

You let any man undertake to do his diity, and many of his fellow-men 
will point at him as a traitor to his party. . . . 

I am here to-day to say that I am a candidate for renomination for 
Governor of this State. I say this to you because I desire to be per- 
fectly frank, and if you cannot say any thing else of me when I leave 
the stand, I would not have you say that I was not man enough to 
tell you the truth on this point. If I could conscientiously lay down 
my position as Governor to-day I would gladly do it, on account of 
the difficulties that gain upon me every day. Just now the heart of 
every decent man in the State and in other States is rankled and filled 
with indignation and disgust at the horrible massacre that has dis- 
graced the country at Hamburg. 

I have told you that you cannot trust your liberties and your future 
to other than Republican hands. I do not love to allude to such things 
as this at Hamburg. They ought to be wrested out of the domain of 
politics and be held in scorn of every man, woman, and child that fears 
God and loves man. What is the trouble ? Out of a trifling and in- 
significant affront against two white men, the town of Hamburg has 
been made, by white men, the scene of a most foul and bloody massacre, 
in which five helpless, disarmed colored men have been shot down with 
more than Indian barbarity and cruelty. 

Let me pause long enough to say that if the office of Governor 
carries with it force enough to bring these men to justice, I shall not 
rest until all my official power is exhausted, I shall not slumber until 
punishment shall overtake the men who have reddened the streets of 
Hamburg with the blood of their fellow-men. Let me say further that 
you must not be impatient at the least delay that may arise. It is 
necessary, in the first place, to ascertain the exact facts and put the 
Government in such an attitude that it can enforce the law ; and in this I 
may say that the United States and the State are as one in their purpose 
to prevent such massacres, and when they do occur they will see to it 
that proper punishment shall follow them as speedily as possible. 

I was saying, when I turned aside to speak of the Hamburg matter, 
that this great work of reform must be carried forward, and, as I have 
begun, those who stood by me say it is my duty to stand by the cause 
in the same capacity ; and I have accepted their judgment, and if the 
Republican party shall place me again upon a platform of reform, and 
say to me, go forward for two years more and perfect the reform you 
have begun, with an honest Legislature and a pure Judiciary, I say I 
will do it, but I will not purchase a renomination by the relincpiishing 
of a tithe of the work I have done, nor of the principles I have pro- 
claimed. I will not, for any official station, insult my manhood by ' 
taking back any thing. . . . 

In the spirit of this speech the Governor made a tour of the 
State, .speaking nearly every day in the hot summer months to 
large meetings. It was a task of extreme labor, hardship, and 
anxiety, but it was the only course that gave promise of rescuing 



ADMINISTRA TION. 349 

the Republican party from the domination and control of the 
local politicians who were hostile to his reform policy. The 
anxiety and dif^culty of the canvass were greatly enhanced 
by the course of the Democrats, instigated by the leaders of 
the "Straight-out" faction. Fully organized in a semi-military 
fashion, uniformed in red shirts, they appeared at Republican 
meetings, officered and bravely armed, demanding " a division of 
time." To refuse it was to run the risk of an immediate violent 
breaking up of the meeting and the greater risk of murderous 
outrages upon the negro Republicans afterwards. Again and 
again the Governor spoke to the faithful members of his party 
while they were surrounded by a cordon of armed enemies who 
had their representatives on and about the platform, when an in- 
judicious word, when a hasty or indignant resentment of a studied 
insult, would have been made the occasion of more cruel deeds 
of the kind for which the capacity, as well as the disposition, had 
been often demonstrated. Of some of these meetings the Gov- 
ernor's own report appears in a subsequent chapter.^ It is only 
necessary to say here that no man of either party has impugned 
the courage and fairness of his bearing through this ordeal. 
Neither the heat of a summer almost without precedent, nor the 
hostility of foes who were inflamed with the cruel instincts of the 
middle ages untinctured by the grace of knightly courtesy, made 
him quail. He confronted the one as he endured the other, with 
a spirit and fortitude that compelled admiration. 

It was not until after the Democratic Convention that the 
Republican Executive Committee issued the call for the Repub- 
lican State Convention to meet in Columbia on the 12th of Sep- 
tember, nearly a month after the nomination of Wade Hampton. 
During the interval the peculiar campaign by which the Demo- 
cratic party hoped to win was thoroughly organized and put in 
operation. Rifle clubs, artillery companies, and various other 
'military organizations were recruited all over the State. To be a 
Democrat and not to belong to one of these organizations — all 
outside the law and in violation of law, — or to disapprove of 
them, was to incur odium. The motive, the method, and the 
spirit of this display of force are succinctly exposed in a brief 

' Chapter XXITT. 



350 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

paragraph of a letter by Dr. H. V. Redfield to the Cincinnati 
Commercial, which was republished in the Charleston Nezvs and 
Courier : 

The outsider is apt to be puzzled by accounts of affairs here. He may not under- 
stand the formation of "rifle chibs," " rifle teams," " artillery companies," among 
the whites. What are they afraid of ? They are not afraid of any thing. Why, 
then, this arming ? They intend to carry this election, if it is possible to do so. The 
programme to have " rifle clubs " all over the State, and, while avoiding actual blood- 
shed as much as possible, to so impress the blacks that they, or a number of them, 
will feel impelled to vote with the whites out of actual fear. The blacks are timid 
by nature, timid by habit, timid by education. A display of force unnerves them. 
The whites understand this, and an immense marching about at night, and appear- 
ance at any Republican meeting to "divide time," is with a view to impress the blacks 
with the sense of danger of longer holding out against white rule. Add to the num- 
ber they can scare, the number they can buy, and they hope to have enough, united 
with the solid white vote, to gain the day, elect Hampton, and secure the Legislature. 

It was under the siirveillanee of such an enemy and in the 
face of such demonstrations that the Republicans prosecuted 
their campaign before their State Convention met. They could 
hold no announced meeting that was not liable to invasion by a 
terrorizing mob. Premonitions of the character of the campaign 
in prospect were abundant on every hand, and it was apparent 
that voters of the Republican party in many sections of the State 
would exercise their right of suffrage, as they already exercised 
their right of assembly, in imminent peril. But the Governor 
pursued a steady course, avoiding with wise discretion any occa- 
sion of just offence, and taking care that no man or party should 
have reason to complain of a lack of fairness on his part. With- 
in ten days after the nomination of General Hampton, and three 
weeks before his own nomination, he issued the following public 
statement as an earnest of the spirit in which he proposed to act : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, August 25, 1876. 

It will be my duty to appoint, on or before the 7th proximo, three 
Commissioners of Election in each county in the State. 

It is just and proper, in my judgment, that each pohtical party 
should be fairly represented in these several Boards, and I therefore 
purpose to appoint, as a general rule, on each Board two representa- 
tives of the Republican party and one of the Democratic party. In 
all cases I intend to appoint only fair-minded and just men. 

I, therefore, invite suggestions and recommendations as to these ap- 
pointments from both political parties. 



ADM IN IS TRA TION. 3 5 I 

I shall decline to appoint candidates for ofifice as Commissioners of 
Election, and if those first appointed shall thereafter become candi- 
dates I shall expect their resignations as Commissioners of Election, 
and I shall feel warranted in making removals for this cause. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

On the night of the 6th of September there occurred in 
Charleston a riot lasting several hours, which threatened to be a 
serious matter, but fortunately was subdued by the prepared and 
prompt action of the State authorities. The occasion was a 
Democratic political demonstration, and party feeling ran so high 
that all conservative and order-loving citizens dreaded the event. 
Although there was much promiscuous firing, but one life was 
lost, that of a white man ; and one policeman was seriously 
wounded, both being Democrats, and both suffering through mis- 
directed shots of their party friends. The Governor, in referring 
to the affair in a public letter, several weeks afterwards, said : " It 
was inexcusable and disgraceful, but it was subdued by the Re- 
publican authorities ; it was attended by no slaughter, it was fol- 
lowed by no butchery. . . . The riot was the result of high 
political excitement, and was an exhibition of the dastardly spirit 
of political intolerance. It has fastened a bloody blot on the 
party that caused it." These plain words were the accomf)ani- 
ment of a declaration that, according to the best information he 
had, the fray was begun by a Republican. Again he showed that 
he held his own party to as rigid a rule of conduct as he applied 
to its opponents, the plain rule of tolerant liberty subject to law. 




CHAPTER XXII. 

The Republican State Convention — A Three Days' Session — The Parly Committed to 
an Approval of Governor Chamberlain's Policy of Reform, and Pledged to its 
Completion — Failure of the Opposition to the Governor — He is Nominated for 
a Second Term — His Speech Accepting the Nomination — The State Ticket Com- 
pleted — Elements of Weakness — Governor Chamberlain's Answer to a Call 
upon Him by the News and Courier to Withdraw from the Republican Party 
and Support the Ticket Headed by Wade Hampton — Comments of the New 
York Times on the Work of the Republican Convention. 



THE Republican State Convention assembled on the 13th of 
September, and did not conclude its work until the morn- 
ing of the 15th. A large part of the time was taken up in 
making speeches, and the affairs of the party were abundantly 
debated. The opponents of the Governor exerted all their influ- 
ence to compass his defeat, but they were unable. His own ad- 
dresses to the people had greatly strengthened him, and many 
county delegations came to the Convention instructed to support 
him. The contest did not culminate until the final session. On 
the second day the following statement of party faith and policy 
was adopted : 

I. The Republican party of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, 
believing that the principles of equal civil and political rights are vital to the interests 
of good government, and that they can only be enforced by the party which has en- 
grafted them upon the State and National Constitutions, hereby reaffirms its confidence 
in the National Republican Party by pledging firm adherence to the platform adopted 
by the Cincinnati Convention in this the one hundredth year of American inde- 
pendence. 

II. We hereby pledge our undivided support to the standard-bearers of that party, 
Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler, whose unblemished and statesmanlike 
record in the past is sufficient assurance tliat all reforms lying within the province of 
their respective offices will be earnestly prosecuted, and the National Government wisely 
and economically administered, with due regard to the rights and interests of the 
whole American people. 

352 



ADMINIS TRA TION. 353 

III. We heartily endorse the Administration of President Grant, so honestly and | 
economically conducted as to exalt the nation in the estimation of the world and 
advance its faith and credit. We recognize in the soldier statesman and President a 
firm, devoted lover of American liberty, a stern, unflinching champion and protector 
of the rights of American citizens at home and abroad, and we will ever hold in grate- 
ful remembrance his deeds in war, in peace, in all that makes our country great — 
though the youngest of the nations, yet the equal of all. 

IV. That in presenting to the people of South Carolina our nominees for the high 
offices of the State for the coming two years, we believe we should make plain and 
unmistakable the aims and principles to which we stand pledged, in the event of their ' 
election, not in glittering generalities of reform, but in specific and substantial n \^ 
articles. \ , 

V. We declare our abhorrence and repudiation of all forms of violence, intimida- \ •-■" 
tion, or fraud in the conduct of elections, or for political purposes, and denounce the I 
same as crime against the liberty of American citizens as well as the common rights 

of humanity ; and, while we insist upon and will jealously guard the right of every 
citizen freely to choose his political party, and deny the unfounded charge that the 
Republican party countenances any interference with colored voters who may choose 
to vote the Democratic ticket ; we protest against and denounce the practice now 
inaugurated by the Democratic party in this State of attending Republican meetings 
and by show of force and other forms of intimidation disturbing such meetings or 
taking part therein without the consent or invitation of the party calling them. 

VI. We pledge ourselves to thorough reform in all departments of the State Gov- 
ernment where abuses shall be found to exist, and, as an earnest of the same, declare 
our purpose of submitting to the qualified voters of the State the following specific 

• reforms as amendments to the State Constitution : 

1. That the present adjustment of the bonded debt of the State shall be inviolable. 

2. That the General Assembly shall meet only once in every two years, and that 
the length of no session thereof shall exceed seventy days. 

3. That the number of sessions of Courts of General Sessions and Common Pleas 
shall be reduced to two annually in each county, with power reserved to the Judges to 
call special sessions when necessary. 

4. That the veto power of the Governor shall be so modified as to allow of the dis- 
approval of a part without effect upon the rest of an Act. 

5. That agricultural interests shall be relieved from burdensome taxation by a 
more equitable distribution of taxes and by the inauguration of a system of license 
fixed upon fair principles. 

6. That no public funds shall ever be used for the support of sectarian institutions. 

7. That the enormous evil of local and special legislation shall be prohibited when- 
ever private interests can be protected under general laws. 

8. And inasmuch as the system of free schools was created in the State by the 
Republican party, and should be especially fostered and protected by it, we pledge 
ourselves to the support of the amendment to the State Constitution, now before the 
people, establishing a permanent tax for the support of free schools, and preventing 
the removal of school funds from the counties where raised. 

VII. We pledge ourselves and the nominees of the Republican party of this State 
to the securing of the following purposes by legislative enactment : 



354 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

1. The further and lowest reduction of salaries of all public servants consistent 
with the necessities of government. 

2. The reduction of fees and costs, especially of attorneys in civil cases, and the 
amendment of the laws governing the settlement of estates in such manner as to secure 
a more economical administration and settlement of small estates. 

3. The immediate repeal of the agricultural lien law. 

4. Public printing to be reduced at least one third of the present appropriation. 

5. Convict labor to be utilized under such laws as shall secure humane treatment 
and the support of convicts without needless expense to the State. 

6. The annual appropriations for public institutions to be economically made and 
properly expended. 

7. The number of Trial Justices to be reduced throughout the State, and each 
Justice to be assigned to specific territory ; with moderate salaries to cover costs of 
criminal business, adjusted in proportion to populations. 

VIII. Recognizing the enormous expense of fencing farms, and the scarcity of 
timber in some sections of the State, we feel it to be necessary that practical relief be 
afforded to the people of the State, and we pledge ourselves to secure such legislation 
upon the subject as will give to the electors of each county the right to regulate this 
question for themselves. 

IX. That whereas in some of the upper counties of the State certain evil-disposed 
persons have induced many citizens to disregard and violate the revenue laws of the 
United States, by representing them to be oppressive and in violation of the rights of 
the citizen, and it is apparent from the action of the National Democratic House of 
Representatives that the revenue tax will be continued, we therefore earnestly recom- 
mend that His Excellency, the President of the United States, do grant a general 
amnesty and pardon for all violations previous to this time. And the Senators are 
hereby instructed, and the Representatives in Congress are requested, to urge this 
action without delay. 

X. We charge the Democratic party with perversion of all truth and history ; with 
opposition to all the interests of the masses ; with fostering class preferences and dis- 
criminations ; with a denial of rights to those who do not accept their political dogmas ; 
with constant and persistent antagonism to the principles of justice and humanity ; 
with a resistance to the manifest will of the people and the spirit of the age ; with a 
determination to make slavery national and liberty sectional ; with a purpose to rend 
the Union in twain to perpetuate human bondage ; with plunging the nation into a 
fratricidal war ; with deluging the land in blood and filling it with sorrow and distress ; 
with burdening the people with a debt that makes a higher taxation necessary and con- 
tinuous ; with opposition to the reconstruction of the States they had violently forced 
into a confederacy ; with resistance to the passage and ratification of the amendments 
to the Constitution of the United States made necessary by the results of the war, 
which clothed the humblest in the nation with citizenship and placed in his hands the 
power of protecting it ; with a purpose to reopen sectional prejudices and animosities, 
to make " the war a failure," reconstruction " void," and the amendments to the Con- 
stitution nullities ; with deception, misrepresentation, extravagance in the conduct of 
government, dishonesty in the disbursement of the public funds, and an abuse of the 
public confidence ; with fraud in the management of elections ; with intimidations of 
electors ; with atrocities during political campaigns unheard of in civilized communi- 



.-/ DM IN IS TKA II OX. 355 

ties ; wilh assassinations and murders of those wliose only otTending was a steadfast 
adherence to the principles of the Republican party ; with threatenings of violence and 
death against those who advocate the perpetuity of the Republican party ; with armed 
preparation and hostile intent in the States of the South, intending by such a formida- 
ble array to frighten or force Republicans into a support of their party and partisans, 
or to remain away from the polls ; wilh dissembling to the North, by assurances of an 
acceptance of the results of the war, a desire for reconciliation and brotherly relations, 
when they are only thirsting for the opportunity to secure what they have lost by the 
ascendancy of the National Democratic Party to power, and thus inflict upon the nation 
further evils and embarrassments ; with nominating national and State officers known 
for their antagonism to all the Republican party has accomplished. 

XI. Reiterating our reliance in the justice of our cause and the truth of the princi- 
ples underlying our national platform, and of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth 
Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, pointing with gratification to 
the many important reforms established by the Republican party of our State during 
the last few years, we invoke the guidance and blessing of divine Providence upon our 
standard-bearers and upon the whole people of South Carolina. And we the members 
of the Republican party, in Convention assembled, do hereby earnestly pledge our- 
selves to an uncompromising support of its nominees, with the firm hope and the solemn 
determination to guard our rights, protect our friends, and elect our candidates. 

In spirit and terms this was an unqualified committal of the 
party to the continuance of the policy pursued- by the Governor. 
The specific declarations regarding reform in administration he 
formulated and insisted upon. They marked out a course which 
was obviously advantageous, and, in the interest of good gov- 
ernment, necessary ; and they did it so definitely that it would 
not be easy for any Republican to avoid the duties thus assumed. 

A large part of the subsequent sessions was occupied with 
speeches advocating and opposing the renomination of the Gov- 
ernor, The opposition was marshalled and led by R. B. Elliott, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, C. C. Bowen, Sheriff of 
Charleston, B. F. Whittemore, an ex-Congressman, and others of 
like fame as politicians. The discussion continued from noon of 
the second day more than fourteen hours without cessation, Mr. 
Elliott making the last speech in opposition, to whom the Gov- 
ernor himself replied. The reporter of the Charleston Netvs and 
Courier in his despatch said : " The scene in the April Convention 
was repeated. The Governor took up each point that had been 
made against him, and answered it amid the cheers of his support- 
ers." His victory was not less complete. He was immediately 
nominated, receiving eighty-eight out of a total of one hundred 



356 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

and twenty-tnree votes, thirty-one being cast for T. C. Dunn, 
then Comptroller General of the State. 

B\- this result it was shown that the Governor was able to 
command the support of his party in the course upon which he 
had entered. Respecting the differences between himself and the 
legislative faction that had attempted to thwart him, he had yielded 
nothing and apologized for nothing ; but he had often publicly 
expressed his regret that he had not power to prosecute the 
reform work more vigorously. All the threatenings and all the 
efTorts to secure his humiliation, made by those whose mistaken 
and corrupt schemes he had frustrated, had been fruitless. By 
plain, frank, earnest appeal to the good-sense and the better 
sentiment of the voters who constituted the controlling majority 
of the Republican party in South Carolina, without concealment 
or degradation of his aims, without pandering to their prejudices, 
without resort to any charlatanry or delusive tricks, he had meas- 
ured forces with those who thought that influence over ignorant 
and untutored minds could more certainly be gained by other 
arts than those of honesty and straightforwardness, and he had 
achieved a notable triumph. The lesson is one that may be 
remembered for encouragement and strengthening whenever 
political leaders are tempted to believe that the way to contend 
successfully with demagogues and unscrupulous rivals is to over- 
match them in cajolery. Unless it be true that in a fair and 
clear presentation of an issue the great body of the people, the 
uncultured and the unfortunate as well as the learned and the 
rich, may be depended upon to prefer what is honest to what is 
dishonest, what is honorable to what is shameful, the warrant for 
confidence in the permanence of Republican institutions has little 
value. The consistent integrit)' of the Governor's speech and 
action made no confusion in any mind. They were mutually illus- 
trative ; and they made the issue between him and his enemies 
so definite and complete that the humblest Republican could 
understand and estimate it ; and because he could do that, he had 
no option without wronging his own sense of right. 

In the speech which the Governor made accepting the nomi- 
nation, he said : 

This victory is doubly joyful to me because I know it has not been 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 357 

obtained by any of those processes or influences which have been said 
at times to control the Republican party in South Carolina. The men 
who have supported me are no band of mercenaries, but a gallant, de- 
voted, patriotic company of Republicans of South Carolina, who have 
believed that I represented certain principles, certain aspirations, and 
certain purposes of the great Republican party in this State, which 
could be carried into practice through my agency better than that of 
other men offered for your consideration as candidates. 

He spoke for some time regarding the issues of national poli- 
tics as they affected the people of South Carolina, then turning 
to subjects of immediate concern, he proceded in a strain which 
reveals, with eloquent distinctness, both his aspirations and his • 
anxieties. If he had left nothing else on record, the following 
passages from this address, in consideration of the circumstances 
of their delivery, would infallibly indicate the motive and spirit of 
his acceptance of official responsibilities. 

But I accept this nomination as significant of another thing. I 
accept it as significant of the desire of the Republican party of South 
Carolina for the continuance, for a higher degree, for a more complete 
carrying out of the reforms demanded by the present condition of our 
public affairs. I accept it in this sense with peculiar joy, because it 
has been my fortune for two years to have been conspicuous in the 
contest which has gone on here in behalf of what we may call adminis- 
trative reform and good government. 

Fellow-citizens, I have always had a profound confidence in the 
desire of the common people of South Carolina for good government. 
I have seen occasions when those who have been reared as Republi- 
cans, taught to believe that universal suffrage was safe because it was 
right, have faltered in their confidence in the success of this people in 
bringing about good government in South Carolina. But I can say for 
myself that my confidence in their capacity has never been lost, and I 
have believed, through all the mismanagement, corruption, and wrongs 
of their leaders, that the colored people, the colored masses of South 
Carolina, were as loyal as any people in this country to the demands 
and necessity of good government in South Carolina. [Cheers.] It is 
in that spirit that I have occupied the last two months in visiting the 
counties of this State in order that I might speak to the people, not 
only in behalf of the principles of Republicanism, but especially in 
behalf of the principles and policy of reform in South Carolina. 

And, let me say here, on no occasion have I found the people fail- 
ing in their real and sincere desire that good government should be 
restored and made permanent and effective in South Carolina. The 
result of this Convention, in my judgment, in selecting me as the nom- 
inee for Governor is due to the spirit of the people of South Carolina 
more than to the leaders of the Republican party. The people of South 



35*^ GO I 'KRNOR CIIA MB EA'LA IN ' S 

Carolina have believed that in the contest of the last two years I have 
represented faithfully the principles and the idea of reform, and their 
voice has been heard in this Convention, and without any of the appli- 
ances or influences which have characterized former conventions, they 
have stood under the fire of the most vigorous assaults, and have 
declared their purpose that through me, and those you associate with 
me on this ticket, the great cause of reform should go forward until 
every burden that oppresses this people should be put away forever. I 
accept this nomination, therefore, as an endorsement of my conduct 
upon the subject of reform. If I could not regard it as an endorse- 
ment of my Administration I could not accept it, because I have no 
purpose in occupying public position in South Carolina, except that I 
may be instrumental in putting the Republican party upon a platform 
that will cause it to command the respect and confidence of the nation. 
[Loud cheering.] 

You know how little, comparatively, has yet been done in this great 
work of reform in the last two years, but enough has been done to 
point the way and to encourage us to future efforts. Taxes have been 
reduced ; a higher tone among public officials has been introduced ; the 
judicial bench has been saved from pollution ; public moneys have 
been honestly disbursed ; official accountability has been established ; 
and now, upon the basis of what has been done, it remains for us, in 
the spirit of the platform now adopted, to go forward, devoted to the 
idea of reform as something that is due to all the people of the State, 
and devoted to it because it is the only hope and only possibility of 
success, permanently or presently, for any political party in South Caro- 
lina. [Cheers.] 

Mr. President and gentlemen, I might pause here, but I think it is 
due to the position which I hold towards the coming campaign that I 
should seek to impress upon you the necessity of completing your work 
in the spirit in which it has been begun. If you have nominated me 
to represent the reforms which have been inaugurated during the last 
two years ; if your nomination is an endorsement to any extent of my 
Administration, then you are bound to see to it that the ticket that is to 
be associated with mc shall be a ticket in harmony with those princi- 
ples and those purposes, [Cheers.] I confess to you frankly that it 
will be a difficult question for me to determine, if I am not surrounded 
by those whose sympathy and support I can enjoy, whether it Avill be 
worth while for me to enter upon this campaign. I am not willing to 
admit, and do not, that you will fail to carry out the work you have 
begun in the spirit in which you have begun it. Put upon this ticket 
none but honorable, honest, and competent Republicans. Fill every 
office upon this ticket in a manner that shall strengthen the nomination 
which you have already made. [Cheers.] 

1 cannot, of course, enter into details, but you cannot mistake, in 
the issues which will come before you, the meaning of my words when 
I say that if this ticket, at the head of which you have placed me, is to 
win, it must be made up of those who are in harmony with the princi- 



ADMINISTRATION. 359 

pies and policy which I represent ; and not only that, but hereafter, 
when the other local conventions of the Republican party shall be as- 
sembled, and especially when you come to make up your legislative 
tickets, above all things don't place before me again the task which I 
have borne during the last two years, of standing for the cause of re- 
form against a Legislature the majority of whom were not in sympathy 
with me. [Cheers.] 

It is a thankless task, an almost fruitless task, for the Executive to 
undertake to carry out the platform of a party unless he is supported 
by the Legislature. If I am not mistaken, therefore, in my interpreta- 
tion of your purpose in selecting me, I am certainly justified in calling 
upon you in all your subsequent nominations to select those who rep- 
resent the cause of reform, who have opinions which they will stand 
up for, even at the expense of immediate popularity ; men who are 
willing to give advice or take action which may not be agreeable even 
to their own party. I have but little respect for political life or politi- 
cal men if we have not arrived at such a position that we are able to 
go forward in the path of duty without immediate success. 

I confess I have never counted the cost of these struggles. If I 
had I should never have entered on them. But my gratitude to God is 
constant that in the trials that have come upon me during the past two 
years I have been enabled to do my duty without regard to conse- 
quences. [Cheers.] 

In that spirit I stand here to-day for the Republican party and for 
reform, for the complete and entire carrying out of governmental re- 
forms in South Carolina. I am for shaking off all the remaining abuses 
that now hinder our progress and success. I am for marching forward 
in the same line which the party as a whole has taken during the last 
two years. I propose to take no step backwards, but to take up the 
cause of reform and carry it forward, and I don't know why I am se- 
lected to lead in this canvass if that is not the spirit of the majority of 
this Convention and the Republican party of South Carolina. [Loud 
cheers.] 

It is needless for me to say that we are entering upon a most ardu- 
ous and difficult campaign. No campaign which the Republican party 
has seen in South Carolina can compare with this in the intensity of 
spirit already evoked, in the importance of the contest in the estimation 
of both parties. We must enter upon it upheld and inspired by our 
political principles, and not by the mere desire for political power. I 
shall enter it in that spirit. I propose to advocate throughout the State 
■of South Carolina, wherever the people shall desire me to address 
them, without fear of consequences, with such protection as the State 
and United States can give me, in all their length and breadth, the 
principles of the Republican party and Republican reform. [Cheers.] 
But we need to cheer ourselves with a constant appreciation of the 
•cause in which we are engaged ; that our liberties, our progress, our 
happiness, not only as a party, but as a people, are wrapped up in the 
issues of this campaign. No matter what dangers threaten, let us go 



360 • GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

forward as honest and sincere Republicans. For myself, I dare now- 
appropriate the consecrating words of one whose devotion to freedom 
and equal rights I early learned to reverence : " I boast no courage. 
I fear sometimes that I may turn out to be no better than a timid man. 
But I do trust still that every drop of blood in these veins of mine would 
be freely given to stain the scaffold or boil and bubble at the stake before, 
by any act of mine," the principles of the Republican party shall be 
betrayed or its great record dishonored. [Great applause.] 

But the Convention to which this brilliant appeal was made 
was not able wisely to justify it. Like many other conventions 
of all parties, North and South, national as well as State, it felt 
bound to promote harmony and good feeling by giving the faction 
beaten in the superior contest a salve for their hurt. The ticket 
was completed by the following nominations : For Lieutenant 
Governor, Richard H, Gleaves ; for Secretary of State, Henry E. 
I Hayne; for Comptroller General, T. C. Dunn; for State Treas- 
j urer, F. L. Cardozo ; for Attorney General, R. B. Elliott ; for 
! Superintendent of Education, John B, Tolbert ; for Adjutant 
General, James Kennedy. Probably nothing did more to perfect 
the consolidation of the Democratic party and destroy all hope of 
support for Governor Chamberlain from that quarter than the 
nomination of R. B. Elliott for Attorney General, and the renom- 
ination of Comptroller-General Dunn. Both of these men had 
been pronounced and bitter enemies of reform and of Governor 
Chamberlain's policy. How keen was his disappointment and 
how thoroughly he appreciated the mischief, will appear in the 
sequel." 

A few days after the Convention had finished its work, the 
Charleston News and Courier formally called upon Governor 
Chamberlain, in view of the action of the Convention in giving 
sanction and honor to Elliott, to redeem his profession of dcvo- 
, tion to a reform policy by withdrawing from the Republican 
\ State ticket and giving support to the candidates of the Demo- 
} cratic party for State officers. To that call the following 
j response, understood to have been written by Governor Cham- 
' berlain himself, appeared in the Columbia Union-Herald of Sep- 
tember 22d. No doubt it was intended as a reply to all criticism 
of his course in accepting the nomination. 

' See Appendix. Letter to William Lloyd Garrison. 



ADMINISTRATION. 36 [ 

The editorial article in the Charleston iWr^/j and Courier of the 19th 
instant, deserves further notice. Aside from its direct personal refer- 
ence to Governor Chamberlain as an individual, its authorship entitles 
it to reply. The relations of the Neivs and Courier to Governor 
Chamberlain during the past two years — relations of cordial and honor- 
able cooperation in the cause of reform in our State affairs — give 
a peculiar signification to the attitude of these parties to-day, and make 
it important to present Governor Chamberlain's views of his present 
position and duty in contrast and opposition to those of the News and 
Courier. 

We shall undertake to present Governor Chamberlain's views, but 
we shall write in a spirit of respect towards the gentlemen who conduct 
the Netvs and Courier, and of regret that a deep and radical difference 
must now take the place of former harmony and cooperation. 

The attitude and policy of the Democratic party under its present 
leadership should first be considered. That policy is the " Edgefield " 
policy. The men who dictated it were the Butlers and Garys and 
Lipscombs and Tillmans and Aikens. No man will deny this. A clear 
majority of that party, including conspicuously the editors of the Ncivs 
and Courier, are to-day enlisted under leaders and seeking to carry out 
a policy which does not command the approval of either their heads or 
hearts. This policy has been forced on them by the most unwise, im- 
practicable, reactionary, and aggressive men of their party. The 
essence of that policy is intimidation. The only hope of its success is 
intimidation. The editors of the News and Courier know this. Every 
intelligent man in this State knows that Dr. Redfield, the careful cor- 
respondent of the Cincinnati Cotnmercial, states the truth when he says 
in his letter, reprinted in the News and Courier of the 19th instant, that 
'' nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the blacks will, 
when left to an untrammelled choice, vote the straight Republican 
ticket." 

This is the party and policy which the Netvs and Courier, contrary to 
its judgment and conscience, in defiance of all its protests and warn- 
ings and entreaties, finds itself forced to adopt and advocate at this 
moment. The editors of the News and Courier are the galley-slaves of 
the Butlers and Garys, whom, personally and politically, they detest. 
But we find them equal to the emergency. Not only have they con- 
sented to abdicate every opinion they have expressed for the last two 
years, but, under the eye of their taskmasters, they seek to wipe out, by 
superserviceable zeal, the remembrance of their former opposition to 
the policy they now find themselves compelled to advocate. 

Such is the position of the Democratic party and of the Netvs and 
Courier. Is it not, then, a most marvellous example of assurance when 
we find this paper, with apparent seriousness, calling upon Governor 
Chamberlain, a Republican, to assist in securing the success of a ticket 
and policy which three months ago the Netvs and Courier itself openly 
and earnestly denounced ? We tell the editors of the News and Courier 
that Governor Chamberlain is a free man no matter who else are slaves. 



362 GOVERNOR CHAMJSKRLAIX'S 

He will never, by word or act, by doing or failing to do, contribute in 
any degree to the success in this State of a party led by the Edgefield 
crew. The News and Courier is to-day dishonoring itself, not only in 
the eyes of the world, but in its own eyes, by yielding to what it deems 
a necessity. Does the News and Courier flatter itself that it will have 
influence with the Deniocralic party if it succeeds in this campaign .-• 
It has already been notified by the Chairman of the State Committee 
that its former liberality cannot and will not be forgiven. The spirit 
of Edgefield will rule the State. That spirit is simply brutal, blood- 
thirsty, revengeful, devilish. 

We will consider next the position of the Republican party. Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain has been nominated on a platform which is wholly 
unexceptionable, a platform vastly more satisfactory than that of the 
Democratic party. The platform of the Democracy lacks a single specific 
pledge or promise. It commits the party to no single practical meas- 
ure of reform. The Republican platform, on the other hand, presents 
a practical programme of reform. All its pledges are specific and de- 
fined. They cover the entire demands of reform at this time in South 
Carolina. 

Upon this platform Governor Chamberlain has been nominated as 
the deliberate, well-considered, determined choice of more than two 
thirds of the Convention. So far, certainly, a great advance has been 
made. Two years ago, as the News and Courier itself points out, he 
was nominated by many of those who supported him under the be- 
lief that reform with him was a mere cover and pretence. To-day, 
after his two years of constant and conspicuous fidelity to practical re- 
form, in all its features, he is again nominated with the full knowledge 
of his purposes and character as an executive officer. The gain here 
for reform is simply immense. 

We come, now, to the pretence upon which the Nctus and Courier, 
and one or two who have called themselves Republicans, have seized 
to demand of Governor Chamberlain that he shall assist in the election 
of Hampton. It is that the remainder of the Republican ticket is of 
such a character as to demand of Governor Chamberlain his refusal to 
remain at its head. In answer to this, it is to be said, first, that the 
ticket is, except in one particular, as good, and, perhaj)s, on the whole, 
better than any ticket heretofore placed in nomination by the Republi- 
can paj^ty. The two most important officers, the Treasurer and the 
Comptroller General remain the same. The nominees for Superintend- 
ent of Education and Adjutant General are generally held to be equal, 
if not superior, to the present incumbents. It is only in reference to 
the nomination for Attorney General that the claim can be made that 
Governor Chamberlain should witlidraw. Admitting, for argument's 
sake, that the objections to General Elliott are well founded, and that 
he will be opposed to Governor Chamberlain and reform during the 
next two years, it is still manifest that General Elliott will occupy a far 
less important position in relation to Governor Chamberlain and re- 
form than he has held during the past two years as Speaker of the 



A DM INI S TRA TION. 363 

House of Representatives. In this respect there is no loss, but a gain. 
But there is no warrant for the assumption that General Elliott will op- 
pose any reform measure laid down in the present platform of the 
party. On the contrary, he is pledged and bound, as a man and as a 
politician, to stand by that platform and Governor Chamberlain. 

There is, then, a positive gain, both in the platform and ticket of 
the Republican party, for reform and good government. Governor 
Chamberlain has distinctly triumphed over his enemies within the party, 
and he is to-day its leader in a sense in which he has never been be- 
fore. Every indication, moreover, points to better nominations by the 
Republican party for members of the General Assembly and for the 
county offices. 

Such is the position of the Republican party towards Governor 
Chamberlain and the cause of reform. A substantial gain and advance 
has been made. In every respect the party is to-day more thoroughly 
committed than ever before to Governor Chamberlain's leadership and 
policy. 

We are now in a position to ask what reasons are there to induce 
Governor Chamberlain to heed the call of the News and Courier and 
withdraw from the ticket ? We answer, none v.'hatever. Every con- 
sideration which has heretofore governed his course upon the question 
of reform dictates to him the necessity of standing firmly and cordially 
by the Republican party and its platform and ticket. He will do so. 
He will do so in full loyalty to the cause of reform, in full consistency 
with his own record as Governor, with all his convictions of duty, with 
all his past utterances and professions as a public man and a citizen. 
If he turns to the Democracy, he finds it the party of violence, pro- 
scription, and fraud. He finds it in the hands of men who are the 
Avorst foes South Carolina now holds to her peace and welfare ; men 
whose characters and careers are the abhorrence of the country, and 
whose policy, at least, is abhorrent to every honest conviction of the 
editors of the News and Courier. If, on the other hand, he turns to 
the Republican party, he finds the prospect for reform brightening on 
every side. 

Governor Chamberlain will, therefore, stand earnestly and unre- 
servedly by the Republican party in this campaign. It is his mission 
again to rescue the people of this State who oppose him from their own 
madness and folly. He will be elected, and, as Governor, he will con- 
tinue to command the confidence of the editors of the News and Cou- 
rier, who will again have reason to wish to forget the craze of partisan- 
ship or the bondage of political necessity, which alone could have led 
them to write the article to which we have nov/ replied. 

The New York Times (September 4th), in an editorial article 
on the renomination of Governor Chamberlain, said : 

The renomination of Governor Chamberlain by the Republican Convention of 
South Carolina is a grateful act, and one that is eminently politic. It up.:cts calcu- 
lations that have been built upon an expectation of Repulilican dissenr: — is, and 



364 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

identifies the party in the State with the reform purposes and plans which are really 
the secret of the hostility the Governor has encountered. The condition of the State 
at the time he entered office was bad enough. The public money was squandered. 
Gross corruption prevailed everywhere. Most of the offices were unworthily filled. 
The whole system might have been set down as a travesty of self-government had the 
practical consequences been less disastrous. 

Governor Chamberlain is entitled to the credit of having exerted the influence of 
his office to stem the tide of political demoralization, to root out abuses and wrong, 
and to wrest the controlling power, legislative and judicial, from hands that were 
perverting and disgracing it. In the performance of this task he ran many risks and 
made many enemies. The demagogues whose plans he thwarted, misrepresented his 
motives to the ignorant electors, and threw all possible obstacles in the way of his 
plans. His efforts to promote Republican reform were assailed as treason to Repub- 
lican principles. His avowed determination to drive into oblivion the adventurers 
who had traded upon the credulity of their followers, was denounced as evidence that 
he had gone over to the Democracy. He persevered, nevertheless. He did what he 
could to improve the credit of the State. He marked for extinction abuses that were 
rank in the State administration. He urged economy upon the Legislature. He 
stripped rascally leaders of their claims to partisan support. And with a moral cour- 
age which at this distance is not easily appreciated, he interposed his authority to pre- 
vent the further degradation of the judiciary by keeping off the bench a notoriously 
unfit man. At one time a split in the Republican ranks seemed to be an inevitable 
consequence of this fearless devotion to the right. The Democrats were disposed to 
coquette with the Governor, and, by affecting friendship, precipitate the break be- 
tween him and the party that had elected him. They wooed in vain. The Governor 
kept on his course. He confronted his accusers at Republican meetings, and van- 
quished them. He remained steadfast in the work of reform, but insisted that it 
should be reform within the party, by agencies of its own creation. 

We have the result in last Friday's action of the Republican Convention . 
The Convention has not only sustained the Governor by placing him once more at the 
head of the State ticket, but has adopted and bound itself to carry forward the re- 
forms he has persistently advocated. The fact is encouraging, both for the State 
and the Republican party. It shows that among the freedmen of South Carolina, 
whom the Democrats are accustomed to deride as unfit for political power, educating 
forces are at work which will deliver the .State from the bondage of misgovernment, 
and render the Republican organization the means of effecting all needed reforms. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Opening of the Campaign — The Ellenton Riot and Massacre — Correspondence Be- 
tween A. C. Haskell, Esq., Chairman of the Democratic State Central Com- 
mittee, and Governor Chamberlain — Slanderous Charges Refuted — The Gov- 
ernor States the Issue Made by His Nomination— The " Conservative" Policy 
and the " Straight-out " Policy — Falsity of the Pretence that All Democratic 
Agencies Are " Peaceful, Orderly, and within the Law " — Examples of Prevalent 
Lawlessness — The Meeting at Edgefield — Meetings at Newberry, Abbeville, 
Midway, and Lancaster — Bitter Proscription of Republicans Undertaken — Armed 
Rifle Clubs and Their Purpose — Significance of the Hamburg Massacre — The 
Ellenton Riot Described — Why the Governor Did Not Call on the White Citizens 
to Suppress the Disturbances — -Comments of Harper s Weekly on the Governor's 
Letter — Proclamation Commanding the Unlawful Military Organizations to Dis- 
band and Disperse — The Governor Contradicted by the Democratic State Central 
Committee — His Emphatic Rejoinder — Confirmation by United States District 
Attorney D. T. Corbin — Why General Hampton Did Not Meet Governor Cham- 
berlain in Joint Debate. 



ON the day .succeeding the renomination of Governor Cham- 
berlain, there broke out at Ellenton, in Aiken County, a 
riot which was continued with vindictive passion by horrible 
murders for several days. It was as revolting in circumstances of 
wanton barbarity as the Hamburg massacre, and multiplied by 
many fold the victims of that bloody affair. The story is told 
with studied reserve and caution by Governor Chamberlain in a 
letter written three weeks afterwards to A. C. Haskell, Esq., 
Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, who on the 28th 
of September had addressed a letter to Governor Chamberlain, 
the extraordinary purport of which is fairly set forth by the Gov- 
ernor in his elaborate response made October 4th. From this 
letter liberal extracts are given. They reveal a state of things of 
which only a glimpse has been had hitherto, and make plain the 
conditions of the contest then fairly begun. 

365 



^3^6 GO I -RRNOR CIIA MBERLAJN ' S 

Columbia, S. C, October 4, 1876. 
A. C. Haskell^ Esq., Chairman Democratic State Executive Committee, 
Columbia. S. C. : 

Sir — I have received your communication of the 28th ultimo, cover- 
ing several matters connected with the political canvass now in progress 
in this State and the general condition of our public affairs. You first 
invite me and the nominees upon the Republican State ticket " to at- 
tend the Democratic mass-meetings which are being held in succession 
in each county in the State." This part of your communication would 
have been addressed more naturally — and I trust you will permit me to 
add, more properly — to the Chairman of the Republican State Com- 
mittee, whose function it is, as the organ of that Committee, to consider 
and determine the methods and order of the canvass on the part of the 
Republican party. In answer, therefore, to your invitation, I am un- 
able to say more than that I have informed the Chairman of the Re- 
publican State Committee that as soon as the duties of my office, which 
now imperatively require my presence at the capital, shall permit it, I 
shall be ready to meet General Hampton at any suitable points in the 
State, not in " Democratic mass-meetings," but in mass-meetings to be 
called by both parties for the purpose of joint discussions, upon terms 
of perfect equality in all respects, of the political issues now before our 
people. You will doubtless receive at an early day a proposition of 
such a nature from the Republican State Committee, with such sug- 
gestions regarding details as will commend themselves to your sense of 
fairness and secure the objects which you profess to seek in your in- 
vitation — the removal of " the bitterness of race feeling, which we (you) 
attribute to the prejudices and erroneous views which have been in- 
stilled into the colored race," and a "peaceful and untrammelled dis- 
cussion, that the people may become enlightened on the issues of the 
day." In saying this, I am confident I faithfully represent also the wishes 
and purposes of all my associates on the Republican State ticket. 

The remainder of your communication is occupied with statements 
of what you claim to be the spirit and conduct and purposes of the 
Democratic party in the State, with a special call upon me " as Governor 
and candidate," to contradict certain alleged statements respecting the 
present condition of the State and the action of men who belong to the 
Democratic party, which you call " slanderous charges," or to " look 
into them by going in person to ascertain the truth." You say that 
'* my appearance before the Democracy throughout the State will be to 
me as Governor a most pleasing refutation to the slanderous charges 
which constantly are published against your party in some newspapers 
which claim to be my political organs, and also in the Northern papers, 
backed by the name of Senator Patterson or some other person who 
claims to be my political friend and exponent." You say that I am, 
" as Governor and candidate, bound by my gubernatorial pledge and 
honor to prevent my followers using the sanction of my official silence 
to sustain these charges against my opponents, when these charges 
allege the overthrow of the peace and dignity of the State which I am 



ADMINISTRATION. 367 

sworn to defend." You present three examples of the charges to which 
you refer, taken from the Washington correspondence, respectively, of 
the New York Sun, New York JVorld, and New York Tribune. You say 
that " these utterances, in the instances above cited, are totally false, 
and affect the character of the State," and that if I "believe them to 
be true it is my duty to restore peace and order, and to do so it is my 
sworn duty to call upon the citizens to sustain me and enforce the law." 

You proceed further to say that " I, and no one better, know that 
the white people of South Carolina are struggling as few people ever 
have done to cast off a burthen of corruption and wrong, such as yet 
fewer people have ever borne so long," and you proceed to make ex- 
tended quotations from former remarks of mine respecting our public 
affairs, and to say that the men who committed the wrongs which I 
denounced " are the same men who control the ticket upon which my 
name stands, who devised my party platform, and are to-day my 
political exponents." You say that I "know that it is against all this 
that our unfortunate people are struggling, and yet that I know full 
well that their efforts, although in the warmth of canvass, are orderly 
and within the law." You say that my " manhood compels me to ap- 
prove your course," and finally you declare that " as Governor of the 
State I am called upon to either contradict the assertion that the law 
is overthrown, and that terrorism prevails, or to suppress this lawless- 
ness," and that "it is your right that I call upon you before I appeal 
to the Government of the United States." 

I am pleased to observe and acknowledge the respectful terms in 
which your statements and charges are framed, so far as they affect 
me. These statements and charges cover in substance the whole field 
of our present political controversy, together with the matters growing 
out of that controversy, and affecting the public peace and the common 
civil rights of our citizens. In addition to your direct call upon me, 
in your character as the official representative of the Democratic party, 
to express my views upon the matters presented by you, the nature of 
your communication and the statements and charges which you make 
seem to compel me to speak. I do this with profound reluctance. Not 
only will the expression of my views disclose how widely you and I 
stand apart upon all the questions involved, but it will, in my sober 
judgment, disclose to the world a condition of things inexpressibly dis- 
graceful to the good name of our State. Though General Hampton is 
reported to have said substantially, in recent public speeches, that I 
could not, by reason of my nativity, feel such an interest and pride in 
the fame of South Carolina as becomes her Governor, and, though you 
may share in this opinion, I still venture to say to you that I have re- 
gretted deeply the receipt of your communication, because it forces me, 
while I hold my present high office, to present views and convictions 
which, if correct, reflect infinite discredit upon a large portion of the 
people of this State. It is, however, as portions of your communica- 
tion show, no new experience to me to find myself compelled by a 
sense of duty to pursue a course which has subjected me, not only, as 



368 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

in the present instance, to the increased hostility of political opponents, 
but to the suspicion and denunciation of political friends. But I pro- 
fess to put my duty to the State above all other present considerations, 
and that duty, as I understand it, requires me to reply to your com- 
munication fully, plainly, and fearlessly. 

SLANDEROUS CHARGES. 

With respect to the specific instances of " slanderous charges," 
which you cite from the New York papers, let me first say that the 
statements respecting me made in the Sun and the World are wholly 
untrue and unfounded. Nothing remotely resembling what is there 
stated was ever said or done by me.' The extract from the Tribune 
professes to give the views and statements of Senator Patterson, for 
which I am not responsible. How far my views coincide with or dif- 
fer from those attributed to Senator Patterson will best appear in what 
I shall hereafter say. I shall now proceed to present my views upon 
the several matters relating to our present political condition which 
are covered by your communication. 

THE ISSUE STATED. 

Your claim in substance is that I am the head of a party and ticket 
which represents and is responsible for a burden of corruption and 
wrongs grievously oppressive to the State ; that the success of that 
party and ticket would be disastrous to the interests of the State ; that 
my position upon that ticket is inconsistent with my public record ; 
that the Democracy, on the other hand, are engaged in a political 
struggle with the sole aim of freeing the State from this burden of 
corruption and wrongs, and that all your methods and actions are peace- 
ful and within the law. In support of your view of my present posi- 
tion, you refer to my public denunciations of past acts of the Republi- 
can party or its members. You thus challenge not only my political 
integrity and honor, but my personal consistency as a public man. In 
order properly to meet your challenge, especially as to my personal 
consistency, I must refer to the course of events in this State during 
the last two years. 

A REVIEW. 

I was nominated and elected in 1874 as the candidate of the Re- 
publican party, under pledges, both personal and party, to reform the 
abuses which then existed. In my Inaugural Address I developed in 
detail my plans of reform — plans which met the earnest approval of 
the general public of the State without regard to party. That I pur- 
sued the course there marked out earnestly and faithfully is a claim 
which cannot be successfully or even plausibly disputed. I found a 

' These statements were in special despatches from Washington, and alleged that 
Governor Chamberlain had violently abused the Democratic leaders ; had declared 
that he was " done with reform talk, and henceforth the Legislature would find no 
barrier in him"; and had arranged to have 20,000 stands of arms shipped from New 
York to South Carolina to be put in the hands of the blacks. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 369 

considerable part of my own party opposed to my course, and thus my 
fidelity to my pledges and to the cause of reform, as I understood it, 
was put to severe and unexpected tests. It is not egotism but truth 
which leads me to affirm that I bore those tests in a manner which 
commanded the praise of the friends of reform throughout the State. 
The press of this State, the public utterances of its leading citizens, 
every organ of public opinion, will furnish the proof of this assertion. 
My record as Governor was elaborately reviewed in July last by the 
Charleston News a?id Courier — beyond comparison the ablest, and, in 
a normal condition of affairs, the most liberal. Democratic newspaper 
in this State or in the South — in a series of editorial articles founded 
on official and indisputable records. From the closing article of this 
series, entitled " The Record of Governor Chamberlain — A Summary," 
I make the following extracts ' : . . . 

This is the record of Governor Chamberlain as shown by hard figures and un- 
mistakable facts. We have strained or exaggerated nothing. The plain truth as we 
know it has been faithfully given. And we maintain that the record as it stands is 
one of which Governor Chamberlain has cause to be proud, that it justifies the sup- 
port which has been given him, and is a complete answer to those of our friends who 
think that no act of Governor Chamberlain deserves public commendation but his 
refusal to issue the commissions to Whipper and Moses. That bold act applauded 
everywhere in South Carolina has not been mentioned in these articles. . . 

No act or word of mine since the publication of those articles, and 
up to my renomination as Governor during the past month, can be 
pointed to which is inconsistent with the record thus presented. I was 
a candidate for renomination by the Republican party upon my record 
as a Republican reformer. Every man and every newspaper speaking for 
me or representing me, placed his advocacy of my renomination upon 
the distinct ground of my fidelity and success in the work of reform in 
this State. I myself during the months of July and August last made 
an extensive canvass of the State, addressing mass-meetings in over 
twenty counties, and on every occasion when I addressed the people 
without hindrance or restraint (the exceptional occasions I shall refer 
to hereafter), I announced in clear and aggressive terms my determina- 
tion to push forward the work of reform, declared that I stood upon 
my record as Governor, and had become again a candidate solely for 
the purpose of completing the work I had already begun. The issue 
involved in my candidacy for renomination was everywhere proclaimed 
by my friends and admitted by my enemies to be the endorsement or 
rejection, by the Republican party, of my work and policy of reform. 
Upon the assembling of the Republican nominating Convention during 
the past month it appeared that fully two thirds of its members were 
immovably determined upon my renomination. I have never heard of 
a suspicion or hint that any motives were presented to any members of 
that Convention to influence their action, except the single considera- 

' As this article is given complete in chapter XVIII., pp. 304-306, all but the final 
paragraph quoted is here omitted. 



370 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

tion of my merits or demerits as presented in my record of the past 
two years. My renomination was earnestly, not to say violently, op- 
posed by a minority of the Convention, but this opposition was placed 
wholly upon charges of my want of fidelity to strictly partisan interests 
of the Republican party or a failure to sufficiently regard the interests 
and wishes of some members of the party. 

THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 

In preparing the platform of our party I was invited by the Com- 
mittee having the work in charge to meet the Committee and to present 
my views. I accepted this invitation, and I here present those por- 
tions of the platform adopted by the Convention to which my efforts 
were especially directed.' . . 

I make no comment on this platform further than to invite its com- 
parison with the platform of the Democratic party, and its examination 
as a statement of the practical reforms and changes now demanded by 
the best interests of the State. 

RESULTS ACCOMPLISHED. 

Two results accomplished by the Republican Convention have now 
been presented. First, my renomination by more than a two-thirds 
vote upon the sole and distinct issue of my reform record ; second, 
the adoption by the Convention of a platform which binds the Repub- 
lican party to reform in general and to reform in detail, — a platform 
which must meet the approval of every man who is familiar with the 
present practical wants of the State. I now present these two results 
as a complete refutation of your charge of personal inconsistency on 
my part in accepting my present position on the Republican ticket, as 
well as a vindication and proof of the determination of the Republican 
party to carry forward and complete the work of reform. So far as 
these two results are concerned, I do not know how my policy and 
record as Governor — which has commanded, as I have shown, in its 
relations to reform, the cordial praise and approval of almost every 
man in your party — could have received a more signal or satisfactory 
endorsement by my own party. Looking at these results my position 
is one of complete, fairly earned, honorable triumph. It is far better 
than that — it is an ample and remarkable triumph of the great cause of 
governmental reform in this State. 

NOMINATION OF MR. ELLIOTT. 

But there are expressions in your communication which indicate 
that in your view the alleged inconsistency and dishonor of my present 
position lie in my association upon the Republican ticket with certain 
other nominees, and especially with Mr. Elliott, the nominee for Attor- 
ney General. Of my associates upon the State ticket, other than Mr. 
Elliott, I know of no alleged public cause of complaint or dissatisfac- 

^ The portions of the platform here quoted are sections IV., VI., and VII., with the 
specifications embraced in the last two. See Chap. XXII., pp. 353, 354. 



A DM IN 1 5 TRA TION. 3 7 1 

tion, except that two of them have disapproved of my course as Gov- 
ernor on certain party grounds, while I ought not to omit to add that 
in the renomination of Mr. Cardozo as Treasurer, a gentleman who has 
been my conspicuous and devoted friend and supporter in every 
feature of my Administration, the cause of reform has achieved 
another most notable triumph. With reference to the nomination of 
Mr. Elliott, I am charged with individual inconsistency and want of 
fidelity to reform because Mr. Elliott has opposed my course as Gov- 
ernor in some important features and was strenuously opposed to my 
renomination. It is true that Mr. Elliott has differed from me widely 
in some instances, and particularly in respect to the election of Whip- 
per as Circuit Judge and my refusal to sign his commission. If it be 
inconsistent and dishonorable for me to remain upon the ticket for this 
cause I think I can point you to similar instances of dishonor among 
those who still command your support. 

Governor Tilden was nominated by the Democratic party as a pro- 
fessed hard-money candidate on a professed hard-money platform. 
He is associated on the same ticket with Governor Hendricks, his most 
prominent opponent for the nomination of President, and the leading 
champion of soft money and inflation. No more pronounced antago- 
nism of views upon the leading political issue, prior to their nomina- 
tion, could have existed ; yet we now see Governor Tilden and Gov- 
ernor Hendricks adjusting themselves, with a skill and success greatly 
satisfactory to your party, at least, upon the same ticket and the same 
platform, and I hear no charge of inconsistency or dishonor against 
Governor Tilden from the Democratic party. 

But I do not choose to answer your charge with this retort alone. 
While it is true — and I think it due to myself to state the fact — that I 
did not approve of or aid in or consent to the nomination of Mr. 
Elliott, it is also true that Mr. Elliott, at the time of his nomination and 
since, has declared his full and cordial acceptance of the work of the ' 
Convention in renominating me and in adopting the platform which 
pledges the party and its nominees to thorough and specific reforms. 
The causes of his nomination were not his opposition to me or to / 
reform, but his admitted ability for the position, his long record of , 
political service to his party, and a desire, as in the case of Governor \ 
Hendricks, to conciliate an element of the party which had been I 
defeated in my renomination. I am, therefore, in no sense compro- 
mised or dishonored in my character as a reformer by my association 
upon the same ticket with Mr. Elliott. On the contrary, I am entitled 
to all the confidence ever bestowed upon me in that respect, so far as 
my individual or personal position is concerned, and I am entitled to 
all the increase of confidence which comes from my success in bring- 
ing my own party to endorse me and the entire policy of reform which 
I have inaugurated and carried on, and the consequent increase of my 
ability to serve that cause. 

Whenever you or others present, the record of my denunciations of 
past wrongs done by the Republican party in this State, you present that 



17'^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

portion ot my record of which I am most proud ; for, while it is very 
easy to float with the tide of party sentiment and action, it is some test 
of one's fidelity to duty to denounce the actions of one's party associ- 
ates and defy their opposition and hatred. I stand by every word and 
syllable of that record. I wish the record were longer and louder, 
though, as it stands, I challenge its comparison with that of any man in 
this State who now opposes me. 

WHIPPER AND MOSES. 

Your communication lays special emphasis, as supporting your 
position, upon the election of Whipper and Moses, and you quote con- 
spicuously my denunciations of those elections. I reaffirm every w^ord 
you quote, and I further declare that what I then asserted to be the 
only path of duty or safety for the Republican party has been done. 
Whij)per and Moses and all who go with them have been repudiated 
and "unloaded." Their . elections have been defeated and their 
threatened elevation to the bench of South Carolina has been prevented. 
Moses has resigned, and Whipper has been compelled to seek the courts, 
wherein ninety-nine out of every hundred of the lawyers of this State re- 
gard his claim as destined to sure defeat. And this has been accomplished 
by the Republican party ; for whatever I have done is chargeable to 
the credit of iHe Republican party, which has now endorsed and re- 
nominated me. " Courage, determination, union, victory," have been 
^'our watchwords," and in that sign we have conquered. 

Such, sir, is my answer to your charge of personal inconsistency 
and dishonor in accepting my present position on the Republican 
State ticket, and to your further charge that the success of that ticket 
would be disastrous to the interests of our people. I occupy individu- 
ally to-day a greatly advanced position on the line of the great battle 
of reform, and I have behind me, following my lead, the united 
Republican party of this State. 

THE " CONSERVATIVE " POLICY. 

I must now examine your claim that the Democratic party is 
engaged in the present canvass in a simple struggle to throw off the 
burden of misgovernment, and that all your methods and agencies are 
legitimate and peaceful. 

You are aware that the present policy of the Democratic party in 
this State was earnestly opposed, and its adoption deeply deplored, by 
a portion of that party amounting to nearly a majority, and I am aware 
that that policy is still deeply deplored by many of the members of that 
party. The opponents of that policy embraced the leading and only 
widely circulated newspaper in the State, the Charleston News and 
Courier, as well as a great number of our most honored and experienced 
citizens, in all ranks and occupations of our society. If I were to call 
the roll of those names I think it would be found to embrace and 
represent a vast preponderance of the talent, property, political experi- 
ence, and breadth of sentiment and view in our State. The grounds of 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 373 

their opposition to the policy, popularly called the " straight-out " 
policy, were clearly defined, and had exclusive reference to the ad- 
vancement of the cause of practical reform in the State. They knew 
and recognized the fact that the Republican party embraced a majority 
of at least twenty-five thousand of the voters of the State. They knew 
and recognized the fact that the colored race, who constitute the larger 
part of the Republican voters, were attached to that party by ties the 
strongest which ever govern men's political actions — the profound 
conviction, whether mistaken or not, that the great boons so recently 
conferred on them — freedom and suffrage — were safe only, in their full 
breadth and beneficence, under the protection of the party which had 
conferred them. They believed, upon evidence too clear to leave room 
for doubt, that for this cause no number of these voters, sufficient to 
change the relations of our parties, could be detached from the Republi- 
can party by argument or legitimate persuasion, or other lawful methods 
of influencing their political action. They recognize in me one whose 
Republicanism was original and radical, but whose course in the practical 
conduct of public affairs gave assurance that I had the true interests of 
all the people of the State as my guiding principle in public life. Upon 
these grounds the men to whom I refer counselled a policy which sub- 
ordinated the interests of party to the good of the State. Their policy 
contemplated, first, the acquiescence of the Democratic party in my 
nomination by the Republican party, if that should take place, and 
such other of the nominees upon the Republican State ticket as should 
be unexceptionable ; and, second, an effort by all conciliatory and 
legitimate means to secure a large minority of representation for the 
Democratic party in both Houses of the Legislature, and in all local or 
county offices. In the May convention of the Democratic party this 
policy apparently received the support of a majority of the Convention. 
That it offered the only prospect of the removal of the present race and 
party lines, and the establishment of relations of confidence and co- 
operation in public affairs between the two races, was clear then and is 
clearer now. 

THE "straight-out" POLICY. 

Opposed to this policy was the " straight-out " policy — the nomina- 
tion of entire Democratic State and county tickets and the inauguration 
of a purely party struggle. This policy was advocated by a class of 
men, the most conspicuous of whom are well known as men of extreme 
views, with strong proclivities towards violent methods and measures, 
it was openly advocated as the " Mississippi plan," and at the conven- 
tion which adopted it General Ferguson, of Mississippi, appeared as an 
honored guest and filled the office of drill-master in the Mississippi 
tactics. This policy is properly termed in this State the " Edgefield " 
policy, and was also called by the editor of the Charleston News and 
Courier the " shotgun " policy. Of the practical details of this policy 
I shall speak hereafter. 

This policy was adopted in the Democratic State Convention in 
August, and was followed by the nomination of a full Democratic State 



374 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ticket. It was adopted under influences and auspices, it was advo- 
cated by arguments, it has been carried out by methods and measures 
so exclusively and entirely partisan as to deprive the present Demo- 
cratic canvass of all just claims to be what you claim for it — "the strug- 
gle of the white people of South Carolina to cast off a burthen of corrup- 
tion and wrong," and to warrant me in declaring it to be a struggle by 
the Democratic party of South Carolina to gain political control of the 
State for the sake of partisan power and advantage. The men who 
looked exclusively to reform, the arguments which promised the attain- 
ment of practical reform, the methods which are warranted by a desire 
for the public good, all were opposed to this policy. In saying this I 
am regarding the facts of the case without any reference to myself. 
The Democratic party of South Carolina were under no political obli- 
gation to me, but if they wished to have their present claim respected 
— that they are moved by non-partisan motives in their present course 
— they were under obligation to adopt a policy which did not, as does 
their present policy, array race against race and party against party in 
a fierce struggle for political mastery. 

DEMOCRATIC " PEACEFUL " AGENCIES. 

I come now to your claim that in the present canvass all the methods 
and agencies employed by the Democratic party are peaceful, orderly, 
and within the law. In your communication you especially assure me 
that if I accept your invitation " my appearance before the Democracy 
throughout the State will be to me as Governor a most pleasing refuta- 
tion of the slanderous charges which are constantly published against 
your party." My knowledge of the serious cast of your character for- 
bids me to think that you arc indulging in conscious satire or badinage 
in giving me this assurance. Without expressing any doubt of the 
good faith of your present assurance, I fear that your experience in 
attending Republican meetings has been widely different from mine in 
Republican meetings where your party have attended and demanded an 
equal hearing. I shall, therefore, first call your attention to my per- 
sonal experience in this respect. 

As I have already stated, during the months of July and August I 
made a convass of a number of the counties of the State. The object 
of this canvass, which was conducted almost wholly under my own 
auspices, was, first, the advocacy of the election of Hayes and Wheeler, 
and, second, and more especially, a defence of my own course as Gov- 
ernor, and an appeal to the Republican party to stand by the cause of 
reform in the coming State Convention. It was not a general party 
canvass under party auspices. The meetings were called at my request 
or suggestion and for the purpose of hearing me upon the question 
chiefly of reform in the State. 

THE MEETING AT EDGEFIELD. 

Under these circumstances I went, on the 12th of August, to address 
a Republican meeting at Edgefie'd courthouse. This meeting had 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 375 

been called by the Chairman of the Republican party of that county, 
at my instance, and as rumors had repeatedly reached me that the 
meeting was to be in some way interrupted by the Democrats, I 
invited one or two Republican speakers to accompany me. Hon. 
Robert Smalls, Member of Congress from that District, also accompanied 
me. We reached the courthouse at 9 o'clock in the forenoon. Almost 
immediately upon my arrival I found the town rapidly filling with 
mounted white men, who signalized their arrival in town by riding 
rapidly through the streets and uttering almost continuously the shout 
or cry which you must pardon me for describing by its familiar name 
as the " rebel yell " — a sound to which my ears were well accustomed 
in Virginia twelve years ago. By 11 o'clock this crowd of mounted 
white men numbered, I judged, five or six hundred at least. Com- 
mand of these men was apparently formally assumed at the public 
square by General M. C. Butler and General M. W. Gary, and they 
proceeded to the grove where a stand had been erected by the Repub- 
lican Committee for the speakers. I should mention that at about 
10 o'clock several white gentlemen had called at my hotel and asked 
that Democratic speakers should be heard at our meeting. I answered 
that we had several Republican speakers present who would require 
the whole day if they all spoke, but I suggested that these gentlemen 
should see the Republican County Chairman, and stated that I would 
personally consent to any arrangement they might make with him. 
The chairman being engaged in preparations for the meeting did not 
meet these gentlemen and no arrangement was made. 

At II o'clock I left the hotel and proceeded to the grove. On 
arriving I found the mounted white men who had assembled in town, 
with a large number of other white men, occupying one entire half of 
the space around the stand, and one end of the stand already broken 
down by the white men who had crowded upon it. I stepped upon the 
stand in company with Judge Mackey and Senator Cain, the Republi- 
can County Chairman. Simultaneously General Butler and General 
Gary mounted the stand with a number of their followers. The white 
men vociferously cheered General Butler and General Gary as they 
appeared upon the stand, and the speaking was actually opened by 
General Butler, who returned his thanks to his followers for their pres- 
ence and their tribute to him. He was followed, in response to 
deafening calls from his party, by General Gary, who announced in 
emphatic and plain terms that they — he and his party — had come there 
to be heard, and that they should be heard ; that the Radical leaders 
had failed to make any arrangement for a division of the time in speak- 
ing, but that he and his friends should be heard, with or without our 
consent, and he added, with great significance of tone and manner, 
that " if any trouble took place in consequence the responsibility and 
consequences would be upon the Radical leaders." During all this 
time no Republican had been allowed to speak. A glance at the crowd 
of white men who by this time covered the stand and swarmed around 
nearly three sides of it, besides climbing into the trees above our heads, 



376 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

all, so far as I could observe, heavily armed with pistols, displayed in 
many instances on the front of their persons, and even held in their 
hands, convinced me that any attempt to refuse the demand made, or 
even to abandon the meeting, would result in collision and bloodshed 
between the parties. I therefore advised Senator Cain that we had no 
alternative but to yield to the demand, and after a moment's consulta- 
tion I announced that we would divide the time, giving a half hour 
each to three speakers from each party. Senator Cain then proposed 
to call the meeting to order and to announce the speakers, but General 
Gary declared that they wanted no chairman, and accordingly I stepped 
forward, under these circumstances, to address the meeting. From the 
beginning to the end of my half hour I was interrupted by the crowd 
of white men with jeers and insults of every kind. Twice during my 
remarks the confusion and interruption was so complete that after 
vainly appealing to the crowd to allow me to be heard. General Butler 
had the decency to come forward and so far restore order as to barely 
permit me to resume my remarks. Of the whole half hour allotted to 
me I certainly was not permitted to occupy over twenty minutes with 
any remarks such as I should naturally have made on such an occasion. 
In truth I spoke under great constraint and a consciousness that any 
word might precipitate a bloody collision, which I had no means of 
preventing or controlling. I was denounced by voices from the crowd 
as a companion thief with McDevitt ; was told I would never come to 
Edgefield again ; was charged with getting up the Hamburg riot to kill 
the white people, excite the North, and get United States troops to 
carry the election, and with a variety of other crimes of which these are 
but specimens. 

I was followed by General Butler, who occupied his time without 
interruption. His speech was exceedingly violent and bitterly personal 
towards me, on account principally of my report of the Hamburg mas- 
sacre. Judge Mackey followed General Butler, and he in turn was fol- 
lowed by General Gary. Nearly the whole of General Gary's speech 
was directed against me. In bitterness and violence of personal abuse, 
I have certainly never heard or known its parallel. Nothing short of 
a verbatim report could give an idea of its character. His attacks 
were not confined to my official character, but extended to my personal 
life and affairs, with frequent threats against me personally in various 
contingencies. 

Judge Mackey next occupied about fifteen or twenty minutes in 
replying to some of General Gary's personal charges against me, and 
he was followed by General Butler. 

What I have now described occupied the time from a little after 
eleven until half-past three — a fact which will give an idea of the time 
consumed by the interruptions of which I have spoken. At half-past 
three I left the grove in order to reach the Columbia train, at Pine 
House, the same evening, amid a torrent of jeers and yells Avhich con- 
tinued to reach my ears without cessation until I had passed beyond 
the limits of the town. The meeting, though called and arranged for 



ADMINISTKA TIOiV. ^77 

in every particular by the Republicans, was at no time and in no sense 
under our control ; only two of the six Republican speakers from 
abroad who were present were permitted to speak at all, and under the 
pressure of the white men who crowded upon it the entire platform 
was brought to the ground before I left the scene. At this meeting 
the Republicans were told in the most emphatic terms that the Demo- 
crats had made up their minds to carry Edgefield County and that they 
would carry it ; that their leaders would be held to account personally; 
that the white people must and should rule the county. The whole 
meeting may be justly described as a torrent of abuse of me person- 
ally, and an exhibition of force and threats designed to intimidate the 
colored voters and their leaders. After we had reached the train, at 
the several railroad stations in Edgefield County a number of the 
armed and mounted men who had attended the meeting at the court- 
house entered the car in which we sat, and, with rude and threatening 
manners, addressed their jeers and insults to General Smalls and my- 
self, especially, warning us not to come to Edgefield again. 

I will add that the foregoing account of the meeting at Edgefield 
has been made from written memoranda made by me while on my way 
to Columbia and after my arrival at home the same evening. Nothing 
has been overstated, though much that was disgraceful has necessarily 
been omitted in this description. 

THE MEETING AT NEWBERRY. 

On the 1 8th of August I visited Newberry courthouse, to address a 
Republican mass-meeting, called for the same purpose and under the 
same circumstances as the meeting at Edgefield courthouse, which I 
have described. I was accompanied by two Republican speakers, Hon. 
S. L. Hoge, Member of Congress for that District, and Hon. J. K. Jill- 
son, Superintendent of Education. On our arrival at the depot at New- 
berry, we were met by the Republican County Committee who informed 
us that the Democrats were assembled in large force, mounted and 
armed in the Edgefield fashion, and had called for a " division of time" 
at our ineeting. I conferred with the Republican Committee who were 
firmly convinced that if we refused the demand our meeting would 
be attended and probably interrupted by the Democrats, with imminent 
danger of bloodshed if any misadventure should occur. As the Re- 
publicans were wholly unorganized for any purpose of resistance to 
physical aggression, we deemed it our duty either to abandon our 
meeting or consent to a division of time. We chose the latter alterna- 
tive and proceeded to the place of meeting. At the stand we found 
the Republicans occupying mainly the space in front and at one side 
nearest the platform, while the mounted white men deployed them- 
selves in a continuous line, completely enveloping the Republicans and 
the platform on all sides. The usual accompaniment of yells was not 
omitted. I addressed the meeting for an hour, and was followed 
by Colonel J. N. Lipscomb. His speech was bitterly personal in its char- 
acter towards me and my friends who were present, and offensive in 



37^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

matter and manner. He constantly alluded and pointed to me and my 
friends as we sat upon the platform as " you fellows " or " them fel- 
lows " ; declared in violent tones that we white leaders were to be in- 
dividually held responsible hereafter ; and by way of illustration of his 
meaning, referred to the lynching of six colored men in May last, 
charged with the murder of the Harmons in Edgefield County, and de- 
clared that, '' if he had been present he would have taken Dr. Barker, 
the white Coroner, and Mr. Richardson, the white Sheriff, tied them be- 
tween the niggers, and given them the same fate." Judge Hoge spoke 
next, and was followed by Colonel D. Wyatt Aiken, the Democratic 
candidate for Congress in that District. I did not hear Colonel Aiken's 
speech, but all the reports of it which I received agreed in stating that 
it was of a similar tone to that of Colonel Lipscomb, though exceeding 
it in violence of personal denunciation and threats. 1 left the ground 
at 3 o'clock in order to take the Columbia train, and I may mention as 
my last experience at this meeting, that as I left the stand and reached 
the outer margin of the crowd, I met a cordon of mounted white men, 
so closely "dressed," in military phrase, in ranks of two or three deep, 
that I was forced to request to be allowed to pass through, and to wait 
until the ranks could be broken for my exit. Every mounted white 
man whom I observed was armed with one or two pistols. 

THE MEETING AT ABBEVILLE. 

At the date of the Newberry meeting I was under engagement to 
address a similar Republican meeting at Abbeville courthouse on 
the 22dof August. On the return of Judge Hoge and Mr. Jillson from 
Newberry on the 19th of August, they strongly advised the abandon- 
ment of the meeting at Abbeville, in view of their experience at New- 
berry, and especially on account of a violent and threatening harangue 
made at the depot at Newberry, on the morning of the 19th, to a band of 
his partisans, by Colonel D. W) att Aiken. I replied that 1 should keep 
my engagement at Abbeville from a sense of imperative duty to my 
Republican friends there. Unwilling to allow me to go alone, these 
gentlemen gallantly consented to accompany me on the 21st to Abbe- 
ville courthouse. On arriving at Abbeville I found our Republican 
friends, as at Newberry, firmly convinced that if we held our meeting, 
prudence would compel us to allow the Democrats to occupy half the 
time, and even then they were greatly apprehensive of trouble. An 
arrangement was accordingly entered into by which three speakers 
from each party were to take part in the meeting. At the hour ap- 
pointed we proceeded to the place of meeting, where we found the 
Republicans assembled, after the manner of ordinary political meet- 
ings. As soon, however, as the Republicans were assembled, compa- 
nies of mounted white men, marching in martial order, and under the 
command of officers or persons who gave orders which were obeyed, 
began to pour over the hill in front of the stand, and to take their 
places at the meeting. At this time I sat beside General McGowan, 
and we agreed in our estimate that there were from eight hundred to 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 3 79 

one thousand mounted white men present. They came, as I know, 
from Edgefield County, and, as I was informed, from Newberry, An- 
derson, and Laurens counties, as well as from Abbeville County. 
When fully assembled, they covered more than one half the space 
around the stand, besides entirely encircling the whole meeting with 
mounted men. I spoke first. In the course of my speech, in response 
to loud and repeated cries from the white men, " How about Ham- 
burg ? " '' Tell us about Hamburg," I replied, " Yes, I will tell you 
about Hamburg," whereupon I saw a sudden crowding towards the 
stand by the mounted white men on my right, and heard distinctly the 
click of a considerable number of pistols. I was followed by Colonel D. 
Wyatt Aiken in a speech filled to overflowing with the spirit of intoler- 
ance and violence. With his thousand mounted and armed partisans 
cheering him on, he shouted to the five or six hundred colored Repub- 
licans : '' If you want war you can have it — yes, war to the knife, and 
the knife to the hilt." With a thousand armed white men drinking in 
his words, he singled out one colored man in the crowd for special 
personal denunciation. Turning to me, he charged me personally with 
complicity in sending arms clandestinely to Newberry to arm the blacks 
against the whites, with absolute falsehoods in relation to the Hamburg 
massacre and the calling for United States troops, and declared over 
and over that the white leaders must be held personally responsible for 
all future misgovernment by the Republican party. Later in the day 
Mr. Jillson, while speaking, was so greatly interrupted by the white 
men that he was unable to make a connected speech or to pursue his 
intended line of argument. After the meeting was closed, and while 
the colored Republicans were carrying a United States flag past the 
public square in the village, an effort was made by a party of mounted 
white men to snatch it from them, fifteen or twenty pistols were dis- 
charged in the air, and a general riot was thereby made imminent. 

THE MEETING AT MIDWAY. 

I attended a similar meeting at Midway, in Barnwell County, on the 
24th of August, called by Republicans, but attended by a large body of 
white Democrats, who marched into the village on horseback, but who, 
on this occasion, dismounted before they reached the place of meeting. 
This meeting was addressed by two Democratic speakers, both of whom 
alluded to and described me and the other Republican speakers pres- 
ent as "buzzards," "plunderers," "adventurers," and " carrion crows." 
Major G. D. Tillman, the Democratic candidate for Congress in. that 
District, made a speech rivalling in some respects the speech of General 
Gary at Edgefield. He charged that I shared the plunder with McDev- 
itt ; that I sought to shield him from arrest by giving information to 
him of the fact that I had issued requisitions for his return from Florida 
and Louisiana ; that I pardoned Walker because I had shared with him 
in legislative "steals"; and finally assured his friends that within a few 
months I would either be " a fugitive from justice or wearing the 
striped suit of a convict in the penitentiary." These are but a few 



38o GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

specimens from his speech. During the speech of Judge Hoge, who 
spoke later in the day, in consequence of a retort by the speaker to a 
white man who had repeatedly interrupted all the Republican speakers 
with insulting remarks and questions, several pistols were drawn, vio- 
lent threats were made against Judge Hoge, and a Trial Justice who was 
present rushed upon the stand to inform me that he could no longer 
restrain the white men, and for full twenty minutes the speaking was 
completely interrupted. 

THE MEETING AT LANCASTER. 

I went on the 30th of August to Lancaster courthouse to address a 
Republican meeting similar in all respects to those I have already 
named. The same scene was repeated, several hundreds of mounted 
and armed white men, their leaders having previously demanded, and 
been granted, a division of the time for speaking, surrounding the en- 
tire Republican audience. After two Republican and two Democratic 
speakers had been heard, Hon. A. S. Wallace, Member of Congress 
from that District, took the platform ; but after vainly endeavoring to 
obtain a hearing, he was obliged to leave the stand without making a 
speech. 

Nearly every fact and incident stated in the foregoing account of 
these meetings fell within my own personal knowledge. I have omitted 
many facts vouched for by perfectly trustworthy eye-witnesses, such as 
the repeated drawing of pistols on me behind my back and the threats 
against my life uttered by persons at too great a distance to be heard 
by me. At none of these meetings did I witness or know of a single 
disorderly act on the part of any Republican, nor did I hear a word 
spoken by a Republican speaker personally disrespectful to a Demo- 
cratic speaker. At each of these meetings the coolest and best-informed 
Republicans felt that the only alternatives were to abandon the meet- 
ing or to yield to the demands made by the Democrats, unless we were 
willing to run the imminent hazards of violence and bloodshed. These 
meetings were, moreover, as you have observed, held at points widely 
asunder in our State, and thus were evidently the result of a matured 
and well understood plan. 

I now present these to you as an answer to your claim that all the 
methods of the Democratic canvass are peaceful, orderly, and within 
the law. I pronounce such a course of conduct as I have now de- 
scribed as an outrage upon free discussion, a mocking travesty of free 
speech, and a plain, palpable, systematic attempt to deter Republicans 
from canvassing the State, and to overawe and put in physical fear 
peaceful citizens assembled to discuss political questions ; and I sub- 
mit the justness of this verdict to the candid judgment of all who re- 
spect individual rights or public order and peace. . . . 

The Governor next set forth by quotations from the news- 
paper press and the resolutions of Democratic meetings, the evi- 
dence that a concerted and determined effort was being made to 



ADMINISTRATION. 38 1 

intimidate Republican voters by proclamation and threats that no 
person who refused to enroll himself in a Democratic club, or who 
voted for the Republican candidates, would hereafter obtain em- 
ployment by Democrats. The News and Courier, in urging this 
policy, had said : " Once convince the masses of the voters that 
the Democracy in town and country are in earnest about this, and 
the fight is surely won. . . . The more general the practice 
the greater will be the Democratic majority. With a fair election 
we need at least fifty thousand. Employers of Republican labor 
can get them and more." With a grim irony this monstrous policy 
was labelled " Preference, not Proscription." Another feature of 
this scheme, advocated by the press and resolved upon by the 
Democratic clubs, was " to rent neither lands nor houses to any 
one who votes the Radical ticket." The following is a sample 
series of these resolutions, one which was adopted in toto, and 
without variation by many clubs in Orangeburg and Barnwell 
counties. 

1. Resolved, That we will not rent land to any Radical leader, or any member of 
his family, or furnish a home, or give employment to any such leader or any member 
of his family. 

2. That we will not furnish any such leader, or any member of his family, any 
supplies, such as provisions, farm implements, stock, etc., except so far as contracts 
for the present year are concerned. 

3. That we will not purchase any thing any Radical leader or any member of his 
family may offer for sale, or sell any such leader or any member of his family any 
thing whatever. 

4. That the names of such persons, who may be considered leaders, be furnished 
to this Club at the earliest date, and that a list of the same be furnished each member 
of the Club. 

5. That whenever any person or persons who shall be denominated Radical lead- 
ers by a vote of this Club shall cease as such, these resolutions shall become null and 
void so far as such leader or leaders, or any member of his or their families, are 
concerned. 

6. That we will protect all persons in the right to vote for the candidates of their 
choice. 

7. That these resolutions be published, and that all the Democratic clubs in the 
county and throughout the State are hereby requested to adopt them. 

The following appeared in the Columbia Register (September 
28, 1876), as having been unanimously adopted by the Democratic 
Club of Ward 3 in that city. 



382 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Resolved, That rumors being current in tlic city that certain merchants in this ward 
are going to show their preference for the present Administration on the 7th of No- 
vember next, that the President of this Club do appoint a Committee of three or five, 
the duty of this Committee being to present the roll to every man in the ward for sig- 
natures, thereby giving to each one the opportunity of vindicating himself, and at the 
same time enabling the honest laborers for reform to discriminate between friends 
and foes, and that they report at the earliest possible time. 

Resolved, That this resolution shall apply equally forcible to porters about stores 
and offices, carpenters, mechanics, barbers, butchers, hack drivers, and, in fact, to 
every one who receives wages from the honest citizens of this ward. 

Many more similar examples were quoted by the Governor, 
who continued, saying : 

The foregoing examples, selected from a vast mass of similar evi- 
dences, are presented here as proof of the fact already alleged — that 
the Democratic party has adopted and is carrying out a systematic plan 
of social and political proscription with the set and ^.vowed purpose of 
forcing men to vote contrary to their convictions and wishes. It is 
within the knowledge of every man who is acquainted with the present 
condition of the State, that the written and formal statements of the 
plans of political coercion convey a very faint idea of the actual prac- 
tice of your party. Prudence and good policy in a majority of in- 
stances dictate the concealment of such plans, and the instances 
now cited of open avowals of the purpose of political coercion are for 
that reason the more startling proofs of the spirit in which the system 
has its origin. The advertising columns of the Charleston News mid 
Courier, and the local columns of other Democratic newspapers in this 
State, furnish constant examples that the published evidences which I 
have cited fall far short of representing the extent of the system which 
they disclose. 

He then quoted several sections from the Statutes applicable 
to this state of affairs, among them the following : 

Whoever shall assault or intimidate any citizen because of political opinions or 
the exercise of political rights and privileges guaranteed to every citizen of the United 
States by the Constitution and laws thereof, or by the Constitution and laws of this 
State, or for such reason discharge such citizen from employment or occupation, or 
eject such citizen from rented house or land or other property, such person shall 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. — Chapter 131, section 26, page 728. 

This portion of the letter closed as follows: 

I am now prepared to pronounce the system which I have set forth, 
and which constitutes a prominent part of the Democratic canvass, a 
plain infringement of moral and social right, and a clear violation, in 
its most prominent features, of the laws of the State. 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 383 

RIFLE CLUBS. 

He continued : 

I next call your attention to another state of facts bearing upon 
your claim that the present Democratic canvass is conducted by agen- 
cies which are peaceful and within the law. I refer now to the armed 
organizations which go under the names of "Rifle Clubs," "Sabre 
Clubs," and "Artillery Clubs." Of the exact extent of these organiza- 
tions your information is doubtless much more ample than mine ; but I 
think I am warranted in saying that such organizations exist in every 
county in the State, and that in many, if not most, of the counties they 
embrace a large majority of the white men between the ordinary limits 
of age for military duty, as well as a large number both below and above 
such limits. That these organizations are armed, officered, drilled, to 
a considerable extent at least, in the manual and military movements 
appropriate to the character of their arms and organizations, and obey 
the orders of their officers, is clear in many cases, and is probably true 
in all cases. That they have appeared in public on a number of occa- 
sions in different parts of the State, and recently here in Columbia^ 
with their arms and under command of their officers, is well known. 
That they serve as the basis of political organization, and under the 
command and control of their officers engage in political duties and 
work, is equally clear. In fact a leading feature of the present Demo- 
cratic State canvass is the constant attendances upon the Democratic 
meetings of these Clubs, acting in their organized character and capa- 
city. In no instance of such Clubs organized since December i, 1874, 
has authority for their formation or existence been given by the Gov- 
ernor, nor are any such organizations reported to him officially, or in any 
manner authorized or recognized by him as forming any part of the 
military force of the State. | The existence of a few military Clubs, or- 
ganized for professedly social purposes, many months since, was made 
known to the Governor, but, aside from these cases, the whole system 
of military organizations now referred to has no official sanction or 
recognition from the Governor of the State. So long as these organiza- 
tions retained their character as social clubs, little importance was 
naturally attached to the question of their legality. Recent and present 
events, however, and the use now made of these organizations as a 
prominent agency in the Democratic canvass, give public importance 
to their character. 

The Governor quoted the section of the Revised Statutes 
regarding the organization of the militia, in which was this ex- 
plicit proviso : 

Provided, That there shall be no military organizations or formations for the pur- 
pose of arming, drilling, exercising the manual of arms, or military manoeuvres, not 
authorized under this Chapter and by the Commander-in-Chief, and any neglect or 
violation of the provisions of this Section shall, upon conviction, be punished by im- 



384 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

prisonmeiit at hard labor in the Slate penitentiary for a term not less than one year, 
nor more than tliree years, at the discretion of a competent Court. 

Pressing home the conclusion with unrelenting logic, he 
declared : 

The organizations to which I call your attention are now seen to be 
organizations not only not authorized by the law, but forbidden by the 
law. But their organization is not more illegal than their objects. 
Those objects are disclosed by their conduct, and are no more doubt- 
ful than the fact of their existence. The incidents of the present can- 
vass which I have already stated, and others which I shall' hereafter 
state, show the use which is made of these organizations. ... In 
organization, in object, in conduct, they are neither peaceful nor 
orderly, nor within the law. And yet they are perhaps the most prom- 
inent method and agency employed by your party in this canvass. 

The next topic related to occurrences that showed still more 
glaringly the falsity of the claim that all the methods of the 
Democratic party were "peaceful, orderly, and within the law." 
The facts and circumstances of the Hamburg massacre have been 
given so fully in a preceding chapter, that the force of his com- 
ment will be appreciated. It is based wholly on the undisputed 
facts in the case which were set forth : 

THE HAMBURG MASSACRE. 

Those who committed the massacre were white Democrats ; those 
who were massacred were colored Republicans. Passing over what 
occurred before the time when all resistance, or show of resistance, to 
the white Democrats had ceased, it is a fact as well authenticated and 
undeniable as the assassination of President Lincoln, that five unarmed 
Republicans, while held as captives by a large body of armed white 
Democrats, were deliberately and wantonly shot to death by their white 
Democratic captors. If the facts of the riot were admitted to show 
that both parties were equally responsible for its origin, and equally 
engaged in its progress from beginning to end, the unimpeachable fact 
would remain that five colored Republicans, after the riot was ended, 
were butchered by a band of white Democrats. Intention and motive, 
when not expressed in language, must be judged by acts and circum- 
stances. Applying this test to the Hamburg massacre, the conclusion 
seems to be that color and political party had much to do in prompting 
the massacre. It is sufficient, too, that the massacre occurred in a sec- 
tion of our State in which the present " Straight-out " Democratic can- 
vass took its rise, and where were found its most efficient promoters in 
all its earlier stages. . . . One of your Democratic orators has 
sought to cover this vast crime with the plea of Mr. Burke for the 
American colonists ; " I pardon something to the spirit of liberty." 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 385 

But the American colonists needed no advocate to acquit them of 
wholesale murder, nor did Mr. Burke sully his lips with the atrocious 
plea that wanton butchery of unresisting prisoners could be condoned 
when committed in the name of liberty. 

Of the Governor's remarks on the Charleston riot of Decem- 
ber 6th and subsequent days, something was quoted in another 
place.' Passing this we come to the account of occurrences yet 
more hideous and brutal, if that may be thought possible. 

THE ELLENTON RIOT. 

And now, contrasting the methods and circumstances and results of 
this riot [in Charleston] with the Hamburg riot, I ask your atten- 
tion to a more recent occurrence which is called the Ellenton riot. 
Though this riot occurred chiefly on the i6th of September and the 
three or four days following, it has been impossible up to the present 
time to obtain a full and connected report of its origin and course. 
Certain general facts and some specific details are, however, known. 
Its origin was an assault upon a white woman in the course of an 
attempted robbery of her house by two negroes.^ One of the alleged 
robbers was arrested, and, while in the custody of his captors, was 
shot. Out of these occurrences grew the riot. Of the conduct of the 
colored people engaged in or connected with the riot I will not speak 
with confidence, lest my present information should be found to give a 
too favorable account. It is certain that a force of armed white men 
was speedily assembled from the surrounding country from a distance 
of thirty miles and more. 

On the 1 8th and 19th this force amounted to not less than six or 
eight hundred men, all armed, under officers, company and general, 
but assembled by no lawful authority, and acting under no lawful 
orders. On the morning of the 19th the arrival upon the scene of 
a company of United States troops caused the dispersing of these 
rioters. The results of this riot are stated by General Johnson Ha- 
good, one of the nominees on your State ticket, to be two white men 
and about thirty colored men killed. My other information reduces 
the white men killed to one, and increases the number of colored men 
killed to forty or fifty. That nearly all the colored men killed were not 
killed while resisting the execution of the law or any legal process, or 
while violating the peace or threatening or attempting any violence, is 
a fact established by clear proof. They were shot down wherever found ; 
in fields and woods, on highways and in cabins, along the railroad track 
and at the railroad stations. 

I give you an account of the murder of Simon P. Coker, a member 
of the present Legislature and a delegate to the recent Republican Con- 
vention in Columbia, as related to me by an intelligent and trustworthy 
eye-witness of the same, a person well known to me personally. While 

' See Chapter XXI., p. 351. "An error. See p. 414. 



386 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

sitting in the car of the railroad train at Ellenton, on the 19th ultimo, 
my informant saw Coker walking unarmed in company with several 
armed white men. Coker's manner indicated that he did not consider 
himself a prisoner or in danger, as he was talking freely with the white 
men who accompanied him. Coker and those who accompanied him 
proceeded to a piazza in front of a store at Ellenton station and sat 
down for a few moments, but soon proceeded to a large tree standing 
about thirty rods from the spot where my informant stood, Coker still 
apjicaring unconcerned. While standing under this tree the white men 
suddenly stepped away from Coker about six paces, and, turning, fired 
a volley into his body. He instantly fell, whereupon several of the party 
advanced towards his body and fired upon it a second time. My infor- 
mant also mentions as a fact that he saw N. A. Patterson, a Democratic 
Trial Justice of Barnwell County, walking in company with Coker at 
Ellenton station at the time first above stated. Coker, it now appears, 
had been enticed from his home to Ellenton upon some false pretence 
of a summons to answer a criminal charge. 

The killing of colored people in connection with the Ellenton riot 
extended far and wide, and was kept up for several days. In truth, my 
information leads me to believe that it cannot be said to have ceased 
now. Persons living in the vicinities named vouch to me personally 
for the truth of these, among many other, instances of murders of col- 
ored men in Barnwell County, growing out of the Ellenton riot. 

On the 24th of September several colored men were picking cotton 
near Elko, among whom were two refugees from the vicinity of Ellen- 
ton. Eight or ten white men rode into the field and fired upon these refu- 
gees, killing one and wounding the other. The dead body was carried 
and thrown into a swamp, where it was found on the 25th by Trial-Jus- 
tice Black, of Blackville, and Captain Kenzie, of the United States gar- 
rison at lilackville. 

On the night of the 24th, a party of white men visited the house of 
a colored man about seven miles from Blackville, and took out a colored 
man who was a refugee from near Ellenton. This refugee has not been 
seen or heard of since. 

On Sunday, September 24th, two colored men escaping from the 
vicinity of Ellenton, passed a church near Allendale while the white 
people were at church. They were pursued by white men from the 
church, and overtaken at the cabin of a colored man at early evening. 
One was shot and died of his wounds at 9 o'clock that night, and the 
other, though wounded, escaped. 

These are but a few of the outrages which I fully believe have been 
committed by white Democrats, members of Democratic Rifle Clubs, 
upon colored Republicans in Barnwell County alone. More than forty 
colored and white refugees are reported to me as under the protection 
of the United States troops in their camp at Blackville at this time. 

I present these facts to you as a portion of the evidence now in my 
hands and within my knowledge, which refutes your claim that the 
methods and agencies now employed by the Democratic party are 
peaceful, orderly, and within the law. 



ADMINISTKATIOiW 387 

The present armed organizations which constitute the effective force 
of the Democratic party, as well as its chief agency in its canvass, are 
manifestly a menace to the peace of the State and the rights of the 
members of the Republican party, because those organizations are un- 
lawful in their origin, unlawful in their aims, and aggressive and law- 
breaking in their conduct. 

This vigorous letter closed with a statement of the reasons 
why the Governor did not call upon the white citizens of the 
the State to suppress the disorders which were alleged to exist : 

WOLVES TO GUARD SHEEP. 

I come now to your demand that if I believe that lawlessness and 
terrorism prevail in the State I should call upon you and your party to 
suppress it, before I appeal to the Government of the United States. 
I am familiar with this demand. I have heard it here and have heard 
it abroad. It is made the occasion of constant reproach that I am 
Governor of the State, and yet cannot and do not preserve the public 
peace. General Hampton and his followers are seeking to profit polit- 
ically by uttering this reproach and declaring their easy ability to main- 
tain the peace of the State. I shall answer your demand with perfect 
plainness of speech. The reason I cannot and do not maintain the 
peace of the State and suppress lawlessness and prevent terrorism, is 
solely because the Democratic party are the authors of the disturbances 
of the peace, the lawlessness and terrorism which they now reproach 
me with, and demand that I shall allow or invite them to suppress. 
Quis custodes custodiet? To entrust the protection of those who are to- 
day endangered by the present disturbances to the armed, mounted, 
unlawful, Democratic Rifle Clubs would, in my sober judgment, be as 
unnatural and unfaithful in me as to set kites to watch doves, or wolves 
to guard sheep. 

Actual lawlessness is, in my judgment, and upon the evidence be- 
fore me, prevalent to-day in several counties and sections of the State, 
and I believe, upon the best attainable evidence, that it has already re- 
sulted in the killing of from forty to fifty defenceless and unresisting 
Republican voters. Terrorism, resulting from lawlessness and violence, 
extends far more widely ; and in support of this statement, I repeat 
here the remark made to me two days since by a white Democrat who 
had crossed the country from the vicinity of Robbins' Station, through 
Barnwell County to Blackville, that " he did not see a ' nigger ' man 
anywhere." But when, in view of this lawlessness and terrorism, you 
and your associates mock me with the demand to put it down by call- 
ing on the white, armed Democrats who are the authors of it, I answer 
that you are welcome to the political advantage such a demand may 
give you, but I shall yield to no such demand as long as I hold the 
office of Governor. 

You know, as I know, that the Republican voters of this State 
are not organized for successful resistance to the aggressions of the 



388 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Democratic Rifle Clubs. You know, as I know, that to call upon the 
colored Republicans alone to suppress this lawlessness and terrorism 
would be to invite or precipitate a conflict, the result of which would 
be to increase, rather than suppress, the lawlessness and terrorism 
which now exist. 

THE ONLY RELIANCE. 

In such an emergency my only reliance for effective physical force 
must be upon the United States troops. I have struggled long and 
hard to avoid a resort to this agency. I have hoped against hope that 
a sober second thought would come to those who govern the Demo- 
cratic party strong enough and just enough to relieve me from the 
necessity of action which must inflict great temporary injury upon the 
material interests of the State. But I am invested with large and ex- 
traordinary powers by the laws of the State to meet extraordinary 
emergencies. The Executive of the United States will do his duty, 
and 1 shall do mine ; and it shall be seen by the world whether the 
right to a peaceful and free ballot by the citizens of this State, con- 
ferred and made inviolable by the Constitution and laws of State and 
Nation alike can be trampled underfoot by any combination or party 
of men in this State. The people of this State know that 1 am not a 
rash or unjust man ; that I am tender of every private and public in- 
terest and right ; but they know, also, that I am accustomed to doing 
my duty, without haste, but without fear. 

I have doubtless wearied you, sir — I certainly have wearied myself 
■ — in setting forth the various matters which were essential to my reply 
to your communication. The statements of facts herein made all rest 
upon actual evidence now before me, the sources of which I should 
have here stated if I had not been compelled, in order to secure the 
evidence, to give a solemn promise, in many instances, not to make 
known the sources. 

In conclusion, I have only to renew my acknowledgments for the 
respectful form of your communication, and to express the hope that 
I have followed your example in that regard, and that the peace and 
prosperity of South Carolina may be speedily restored and perpetually 
maintained. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
DANIEL H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

Such a document, clear and accurate in its statement of the 
actual condition of affairs, reserved and candid regarding all mat- 
ters of doubt ; dignified, forceful, earnest, and bold, being widely 
published in the press of the country, arrested attention in an 
extraordinary degree. Harper s JfVr^'/;)'(No\^ember 4th) referred to 
it in the following terms: 



ADMIN IS TRA TION. 389 

The letter of Governor Chamberlain of South CaroHna to the Democratic Com- 
mittee of that State is a plain and conclusive representation of the actual situation. 
The attempt to stigmatize him as a schemer bent only upon his own success is ridicu- 
lous. ... Its quiet and firm tone shows a man who, under extreme difficulties, 
is master of the situation. In the course of the letter Governor Chamberlain had 
proved the entire illegality of the armed Democratic organizations, and had recited 
incontestable evidence of their purpose. 

There is no man in the Southern States since the war who has done so much for a 
true pacilication as Governor Chamberlain. His Democratic competitor, Wade 
Hampton, has been a mere firebrand. For ten years Hampton and other Demo'- 
cratic leaders like him have remained passive and sullen. His nomination now is 
due solely to the expectation of a Democratic restoration, and the rifle clubs and the 
terror are a part of the system by which the Republican vote of vSouth Carolina is to 
be intimidated, and an apparent Democratic majority obtained. Governor Chamber- 
lain, in the interests of good government, had earned the opposition of the Republi- 
can bummers in the North as well as in the South. The fact that his efforts were 
applauded and sustained by sensible Democrats was one of the reasons that he was 
opposed by corrupt Republicans. And had the Democratic party of South Carolina 
sincerely wished peace and good order, they would have sustained Chamberlain with 
all the best Republicans in the State. 

We bespeak for Governor Chamberlain among all intelligent and patriotic citizens 
of the country a most patient consideration. There is no man who has graver re- 
sponsibilities, and no one who meets them more courageously. He would not deny 
that the presence of United States troops is not a final solution of the question. But 
that is not a reason that he should submit to the despotism of Democratic rifle clubs 
and the order that reigned at Warsaw. He stands for civilization, for the country, 
and the principles that have amended the Constitution, and all good citizens in every 
State should stand by him. 

Violence and public disorder continuing in the counties of 
Aiken and Barnwell, the Governor, three days after the publica- 
tion of the foregoing letter, issued a Proclamation which gave dis- 
tinct warning of his purpose to call on the President for the assist- 
ance of national troops in preserving order unless the illegal armed 
forces violating the public peace should disband and disperse. 

State of South Carolina, 
Executive Chamber, 

Columbia, S. C, Oct. 7, 1876. 
Whereas^ it has been made known to me by written and sworn evi- 
dence that there exists such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and 
assemblages of persons in the counties of Aiken and Barnwell that it 
has become impracticable, in my judgment as Governor of the State, to 
enforce, by the ruling course of judicial proceedings, the laws of the 
State within said counties, by reason whereof it has become neces- 
sary, in my judgment as Governor, to call forth and employ the mili- 
tary force of the State to enforce the faithful execution of the law ; and 



390 GOrERXOK CHAMBERLAIN'S 

whereas, it has been made known to me as Governor that certain or- 
ganizations and combinations of men exist in all the counties of the 
State, commonly known as " Rifle Clubs " ; and whereas, such organiza- 
tions and combinations of men are illegal and strictly forbidden by the 
laws of this State ; and whereas, such organizations and combinations 
of men are engaged in promoting illegal objects and in committing open 
acts of lawlessness and violence ; 

Now, therefore, I, Daniel H. Chamberlain, Governor of said State, 
do issue this, my Proclamation, as required by the 13th section of chap- 
ter 132 of the General Statutes of the State, commanding the said 
unlawful combinations and assemblages of persons in the counties of 
Aiken and Barnwell to disperse and return peaceably to their homes 
within three days from the date of this Proclamation, and henceforth to 
abstain from all unlawful interference with the rights of citizens, and 
from all violations of the public peace. And I do further, by this 
Proclamation, forbid the existence of all said organizations or combi- 
nations of men commonly known as " Rifle Clubs," and all other organ- 
izations or combinations of men, or formations not forming a part of 
the organized militia of the State, which are armed with firearms or 
other weapons of war, or which engage, or are formed for the purpose 
of engaging, in drilling or exercising the manual of arms or military 
manoeuvres, or which appear, or are formed for the purpose of appear- 
ing, under arms, or under the command of officers, bearing titles or as- 
suming the functions of ordinary military officers, or in any other man- 
ner acting or proposing to act as organized and armed bodies of men ; 
and I do command all such organizations, combinations, formations, or 
bodies of men forthwith to disband and cease to exist in any place and 
under any circumstances in the State. 

And I do further declare and make known by this Proclamation to 
all the people of this State that in case this Proclamation shall be dis- 
regarded for the space of three days from the date thereof, I shall pro- 
ceed to put into active use all the powers with which, as Governor, I 
am invested by the Constitution and laws of the State for the enforce- 
ment of the laws and the protection of the rights of the citizens, and 
particularly the powers conferred on me by Chapter 132 of the General 
Statutes of the State, as well as by the Constitution of the United States. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
great seal of the State to be affixed, at Columbia, this 7th day of Oc- 
tober, A.D 1876, and in the one hundred and first year of American 
independence. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

By the Governor : 

H. E. HAYNE, 

Secretary of State. 

The Democratic State Executive Committee issued an address 
to the country disputing the statements in the Governor's letter 
to Col. Haskell and denouncing" the Governor's Proclamation as 



ADMINISTRATION. 39 1 

being unwarranted by law and facts and issued to furnish a pre- 
text for asking for troops. To this address, Governor Chamberlain 
made a prompt response, as follows : 

Columbia, S. C, October 9, 1876. 
To the People of the United States : 

An effort having been made by the official representatives of the 
Democratic party of this State to deny the facts and condition of affairs 
which were set forth in my recent letter to the Chairman of the Demo- 
cratic State Executive Committee, and upon which my Proclamation of 
the 7th instant rests, I deem it my duty to say, upon my full official re- 
sponsibility, that I am at this moment in possession of authentic legal 
evidence to substantiate every fact and statement made by me in the 
documents above referred to. And I further assert, upon my full 
official and personal responsibility, that the lawlessness, terrorism, and 
violence to which I have referred far exceed in extent and atrocity any 
statements yet made public. This latter statement rests upon the evi- 
dence in my hands of persons who have officially investigated the facts 
at the places where they occurred, and upon the affidavits of United 
States army officers who were present at the scenes of violence and 
murder. 

Hon. D. T. Corbin, United States District Attorney for this State, 
who has personally made a separate and independent investigation of 
the Ellenton riot, furnishes me with the following statement of the re- 
sults reached by him, a statement, as will be seen, more than verifying 
my statements and vindicating my action. Of the four Judges whose 
statements are presented by the official representatives of the Demo- 
cratic party as impeaching my statements, not one professes to have any 
knowledge of the facts stated by me, and of the two Republican Judges, 
Judge Moses disclaims any such knowledge, and Judge Willard states 
that he has been absent from the State for the past three months. 

All the evidence in my hands, and in the hands of the United States 
District Attorney, will be made public so soon as the interests of public 
justice will permit it. I pledge myself to the country to prove a con- 
dition of affairs in this State, produced by the Democratic party, more 
disgraceful than any statement yet made by me, and I shall not stay my 
hand until punishment overtakes its guilty authors. My only offence 
is too great caution in obtaining evidence, and too great delay in exer- 
cising my utmost powers to protect our citizens. 

DANIEL H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

Columbia, S. C, October 9, 1876. 
Governor D. H. Chamberlain : 

Dear Sir — You having asked of me a statement of the general condition of af- 
fairs in Aiken County as I found them to be on my visit there during the past week, 
I have the honor to state : 

That I spent three days in Aiken and had before me and took the affidavits of a 



392 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

considerable number of citizens from different parts of the county. I find that rifle 
clubs or regular military organizations, organized substantially after the manner of 
military companies in the United States army, exist throughout the county. The 
officers of these companies are called captains and lieutenants, and the subordinate 
officers are called sergeants and corporals. They are all armed with weapons of various 
patents, but many of them of the latest and most improved kinds. Rifles and six- 
teen-shooters are most common. Pistols are universal. These companies meet at 
stated intervals for drill in the various military manoeuvres. They are also subject to 
be called out on occasion by their commanding officers. 

These clubs have created and are causing a perfect reign of terror. The colored 
men are, many of them, lying out-of-doors and away from their homes at night. 
Many of them have been killed, and many have been taken from their beds at night 
and mercilessly whipped, and others have been hunted with threats of murder and 
whipping, who thus far, by constant watchfulness and activity, have escaped. The 
white men of these clubs are riding day and night, and the colored men are informed 
that their only safety from death or whipping lies in their signing an agreement 
pledging themselves to vote the Democratic ticket in the coming election. From the 
best information I could obtain in the time I was in Aiken, I fix the number of col- 
ored men killed in this county alone by white men of these clubs, during the past 
three weeks, at thirteen certainly and at probably twenty-five or thirty. The civil 
arm of the government in this county is as powerless as the wind to prevent these 
atrocities. The Sheriff of the county, if disposed, dare not attempt to arrest the per- 
petrators of these crimes for fear of his own life being taken. He did not, as I am 
credibly informed, go within seven miles of the eight hundred men (so estimated by 
United States army officers who saw them) assembled under the command of A. P. 
Butler, near Rouse's Bridge, and marching upon a crowd of colored men there, whom 
they had surrounded and intended, as scores of them allege, to kill. 

In conclusion I have only to say that the condition of affairs in Aiken County 
rivals the worst demonstrations of the Ku-Klux Klan in 1870 and 1S71. 

In my judgment you owe it to yourself as Governor and to the people of the State 
to exercise, and at once, all the powers vested in you as Governor of the State, to put 
down this deplorable state of affairs. Very respectfully, f-.V'^'' 

D. T. CORBIN, ■ ' 
United States District Attorney for South Carolina. 



The proposition of the Chairman of the Democratic State 
Committee relative to holding joint discussions with General 
Hampton, having been referred by Governor Chamberlain to the 
Republican State Committee, a correspondence followed, which 
is herewith given. Its significance is obvious : 

Columbia, S. C, October 5, 1876. 
A. C. Haskell, Esq., Chairman Democratic State Executive Committee, Columbia, S.C.r 
Sir — Governor Chamberlain has referred to the Republican State Executive Com- 
mitte, of which I am Chairman, for answer, so much of your letter to him of the 28th 
ult. as relates to your invitation to him and to his associates on the Republican State 
ticket to meet General Hampton in public meetings for the purpose of joint discus- 
sions. In reply I am authorized by Governor Chamberlain, and the other nominees 



ADMINISTRA TION. 393 

on the Republican State ticket, to make to you the following proposition, which will 
enable the candidates of both parties to appear before the people upon terms of 
equality and secure the purposes of joint discussion, namely : 

Governor Chamberlain will meet General Hampton at ten places, five to be 
selected in what is called the low country and five in the up country, the places to be 
selected by mutual conference between the Executive Committees of the two parties, 
or such representatives as they may appoint, or, in case of disagreement, five places 
shall be selected absolutely by one committee and five by the other. Inasmuch as 
General Hampton is now under apppointments mainly in the low country, I am 
authorized to say that Governor Chamberlain and his associates will agree absolutely 
upon five places now named among his appointments in the low country. At the 
places agreed upon, the meetings shall be called by the proper representatives of 
each party in such manner as each shall deem proper. When the meetings are 
assembled they shall be called to order and presided over by a chairman from each 
party, who shall, each for his own party, introduce the speakers. The speakers shall 
occupy equal spaces of time, and be in all respects upon a perfect equality in all rights 
and privileges pertaining to the discussion. 

This proposition is made to apply to General Hampton and Governor Chamberlain 
alone, or to other or all the nominees on the State tickets. If the discussion is limited 
to General Hampton and Governor Chamberlain, then the usual arrangements, 
respecting the opening and the close, and the alternations in the order of speakers on 
successive days, shall be made. If other speakers are allowed, they shall come in 
equal numbers for each party, and have equal time for speaking, and all the usual 
rules of joint discussion shall be applied. 

No speakers shall be allowed at any meetings called for joint discussions except 
such as shall be agreed upon under this proposition, or their substitutes or represent- 
atives. 

At all meetings assembled under this proposition, the space around the speaker's 
stand shall be equally divided between the two parties, in all respects, and this divi- 
sion shall be observed throughout all the meetings, from their opening to their close. 
The Chairmen of the respective State Executive Committees shall stipulate with each 
other for respectful and courteous treatment of opposing speakers, and for the orderly 
and quiet conduct of their respective parties at the meetings, and at all times during 
the assembling and dispersing of the meetings. 

This proposition, with all its details, is made solely with a view to secure joint 
discussions in which both parties shall meet upon fair and equal terms. If any of the 
details are objectionable for any cause to you, or those whom you represent, I shall 
be glad to hear such objections and to accept any modification which will secure the 
object which we sincerely and earnestly seek — " a free and untrammelled discussion,, 
that the people may become enlightened on the issues of the day." 

Very respectfully, 

ROBERT B. ELLIOTT, 
President Executive Committee, Union Republican Tarty of South Carolina. 



Columbia, S. C, October 9, 1876. 
To R. B. Elliott, Esq., President Executive Committee U. R. P., Columbia, S. C. .- 
Sir — Your letter of 5th instant was received. We have no objection to the man- 
ner you propose for the holding or conducting of the joint meetings. You have ac- 



394 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

cepted the five appointments in the low country as they stand upon the list already 
published. We cannot deviate from the order in which our appointments have been 
made in the other counties ; but we see no reason why you cannot commence the 
joint meetings at Yorkville on the 13th instant, and continuing thence at Chester on 
the 14th, Winnsboro, in Fairfield, on the i6th, Lexington on the 17th, and Edgefield 
on the i8th. These will constitute the five up-country meetings. The meetings in 
the low country will be in Beaufort, at Early Branch, on the 23d, in Colleton, at 
Walterboro, on the 27th, in Charleston on the 30th, in Georgetown on November ist, 
and in Orangeburg on November 3d. The counties of Aiken and Barnwell are pre- 
cluded by Governor Chamberlain's Proclamation. The number of speakers we pro- 
pose will be four, subject to change by agreement. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. C. HASKELL, 
Chairman Democratic Executive Committee. 



Columbia, October 9, 1876. 
Colonel A. C. Haskell, Chairman State Executive Cofumittee of the Democratic Party 
of Sotith Carolina, Colu7nbia, S. C. : 
Sir — I am instructed by my colleagues of the State Executive Committee of the 
Union Republican Party to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this 
date, and to express our gratification at its general purport. We shall be glad to 
proceed, as soon as practical, to arrange such details as may be necessary in connec- 
tion with the proposed joint discussions, and to this end we would like to be informed 
whether your Committee prefer to agree upon the requisite details through the agency 
of correspondence or by personal interviews between committees from each party. 

If the latter mode be agreeable to you, Messrs. F. L. Cardozo, T. C. Dunn, and 
R. B. Elliott, representing our Committee, will be pleased to meet any similar Com- 
mittee which you may designate, in the Library of the Supreme Court to-morrow, at 
such hou"- as may be found most convenient to them. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

ROBERT B. ELLIOTT, 
President State Executive Committee Union Republican Party. 



Memorandum of agreement entered into this iith day of October, A.D. 1876, be- 
tween Colonel A. C. Haskell, Chairman State Executive Committee of the Demo- 
cratic party of South Carolina, of the first part, and R. B. Elliott, President State 
Executive Committee of the Union Republican party of South Carolina, of the other 
part, witnesseth : That it is herein and hereby stipulated and agreed between the 
parties aforesaid, for and in the behalf of the political parties represented by them : 

First. That joint discussions of the political issues involved in the present cam- 
paign in this State shall be held between representatives of the two parties at ten 
different places in the State, five of these to be in the upper, and five in the 
low country, to wit : 

At Greenville C. H. . . . 

" Union C. H 

" Winnsboro 

" Abbeville C. H. . . . 

*' Cheraw 



At Gillisonville . 


. October 25th 


" Walterboro . 


" 27th 


" Charleston . . 


30th 


" Georgetown . . 


. November 1st 


" Orangeburg 


3d 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 395 

Second. That at the times and places above mentioned Governor D. H. Cham- 
berlain and General Wade Hampton, and two others from each side, shall participate 
in the discussions contemplated by the memorandum : Provided, That if, from any 
■cause, one or more of the speakers on either side shall be unable to be present, their 
places may be filled by an equal number of speakers to be substituted for them by the 
political parties to which the absentees may belong. 

Third. That notice of each of the several meetings above enumerated shall be 
given to the voters of each political party by their proper representatives, in such 
manner as they may deem proper — said meetings, in all cases, to commence at 12 m. 

Fourth. Each of the meetings shall be presided over by a chairman from each 
political party, who shall each, for his party, introduce its speakers. 

Fifth. That the order of speaking, with reference to the representatives of each 
party, shall be alternated at successive meetings, and each speaker, on each side, shall 
be entitled to one hour of time ; provided that it shall be optional with the speakers 
of that party which opens the discussion either to consume, individually, all of their 
time, or to reserve a portion of it for the purposes of reply ; their opponents in all 
cases, however, to confine themselves to one uninterrupted space of time. In no case 
shall any speaker be allowed to transfer any portion of his time to another. 

Sixth. That at all the meetings provided for in this memorandum the space on and 
around the speakers' stand shall be equally divided between the two political parties 
from the commencement to the closing of such meetings. 

Seventh. That at all meetings the speakers shall treat their opponents with 
decorum and courtesy, and the representatives of each party shall stand pledged for 
the maintenance of peace and goc>d order by their constituents, respectively, as well 
during the assembling and dispersing of the audiences as during the progress of the 
discussion. 



Columbia, October 12, 1876. 

Colonel A. C. Haskell, Chairman State Executive Committee of the Democratic Party 
of South Carolina, Colu?nbia, S. C. : 

Sir — I have recited to my colleagues of the Executive Committee of the Union 
Republican Party the matters discussed in the interview which I had the honor to 
hold with you yesterday in reference to the details of the proposed joint discussions, 
and they reluctantly conclude that our negotiations for that purpose cannot be con- 
ducted further upon a basis that involves additional concessions on our part. 

You will remember that our original proposition was to hold ten meetings — five in 
the up and five in the low country. At the latter we consented to meet all your ap- 
pointments of places and days, with the understanding that you were to conform to 
ours, in these particulars, at the up-country meetings. Upon finding that you would 
be inconvenienced by a strict adherence to this part of the programme, we consented 
to regard your appointment for Columbia as embraced in the up-country list, and 
subsequently went further and agreed to reduce the number of the meetings to eight, 
reserving the right to name the two places, in the up country, not previously agreed 
upon, but conceding to you the designation of the days upon which these two meet- 
ings should be held. 

So, in brief, we have yielded to the reduction of the number of the joint discus- 
sions from ten to eight ; to your designation of six out of the eight places at which 
they should be held, and to the selection of such days, in every instance, as would 
subserve your convenience. 

Now, upon conference, we find that we can concede nothing more without in- 
fringing gravely upon the programme agreed upon for our own appointments, previous 
to our negotiations for joint discussions, and consequently prejudicing our canvass 



39^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN S 

by the change of our appointments at this late clay, and the confusion which might 
incidentally follow such a course. 

We present these facts in the hope that your Committee may find it convenient to 
recede from the position which I understood you to take, in the course of my inter- 
view with you yesterday, and, by consenting to the places to be suggested by us for 
the two up-country meetings, enable us to consummate our arrangements without 
further delay. 

Requesting an early reply, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Robert B. Elliott, 
President State Executive Committee Union Republican Party. 



Columbia, S. C, October i6, 1876. 
Sir : — Your communication of the 12th instant received. The committee assem- 
bled to-day, and considered your propositions. We cannot go further than in our 
previous letters. We desire joint discussion, and we offer now, as we did from the 
first, to arrange on your terms for joint discussion at the places named in the list of 
Democratic appointments. These appointments were made long prior to the open- 
ing of this negotiation, and, as I early told you, cannot be departed from. Very re- 
spectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. C. Haskell, 
Chairman State Democratic Executive Committee. 



Columbia, October 17, 1876. 
Colonel A. C. Haskell, Chairman State Executive Committee Democratic Party, 
Columbia, S. C. : 
Sir — Your communication of the i6th instant has been submitted to my col- 
leagues of the Executive Committee, who concur with me in the propriety of ceasing 
ail further efforts to consummate arrangements for the joint discussions contemplated 
by our correspondence with your Committee. 

We reach this conclusion with unaffected reluctance, because we have always been 
anxious to agree upon such preliminaries as would enable us to meet you before the 
people of the State in a fair and full discussion of the issues of the day. Finding 
now that despite all the concessions which we have made to bring about this result, 
and which are summarized in my note of the 12th instant, it is no longer possible to 
secure at your hands such a corresponding relinquishment of previous engagements 
as would place us on equal terms in the canvass, we are reduced to the necessity of 
closing negotiations for that purpose. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
ROBERT B. ELLIOTT, 
President State Executive Committee Union Republican Party. 



Rooms State Democratic Executive Committee, 
Columbia, October 17, 1876. 
Sir : — The Executive Committee submits another proposition in the hope that it 
may bring about joint discussion : 

General Hampton, personally, cannot depart from his line of previous appoint- 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 39/ 

ments, but he agrees to send a substitute to meet Mr. Chamberlain at any points he 
may designate in the up country ; provided Mr. Chamberlain comes to the low-coun- 
try appointments and meets General Hampton in discussion there. 

If you will accept this proposition, and send a list of your speakers at each meet- 
ing, I will return to you the names of those who will speak on our side. 

Reply at your earliest convenience is respectfully requested. We mean that 
General Hampton will meet Mr. Chamberlain at any of our regular appointments, 
and will have Mr. Chamberlain or any of his speakers met at any appointments that 
they may make. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
A. C. HASKELL, 
Chairman State Democratic Executive Committee. 
To R. B. Elliott, Esq., President Union Republican Executive Committee. 



Columbia, S. C, October 18, 1S76. 
Sir . — Your note of the 17th instant is received, proposing that Governor Cham- 
berlain shall meet Mr. Hampton in the low country and that Mr. Hampton shall 
send a substitute to meet Governor Chamberlain in the up country. 

In the absence of General Elliott, and as acting President of the Republican 
State Executive Committee, and in their behalf, I have to say in reply, that such a 
proposition is wholly inadmissible. It departs entirely from the prime purpose of 
joint discussions, as contemplated by our previous negotiations. While substitutes 
were allowed under the terms of our first proposition, they were only to be allowed 
in exceptional cases, when the principals, for some special cause, could not be present. 
Your present proposition contemplates at the outset, and as the basis of your offer, 
the absence of Mr. Hampton from one half of the joint discussions. 

It will require no further assignment of reasons to justify the Republican State 
Executive Committee in declining your proposition. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
F. L. CARDOZO, 
Acting President Republican State Executive Committee. 
To A. C. Haskell, Esq., Chairman State Democratic Executive Committee, 





CHAPTER XXIV. 



Record of the Campaign Continued — Graphic Letter of a South Carolina Democrat 
to the New York Tribune — An Open Letter Addressed to Governor Chamber- 
lain by William Lloyd Garrison — The Governor Applies to the President for 
Aid to Suppress the Continuing Public Disorder — Proclamation of President Grant 
— Instructions of the Secretary of War — The Governor's Statement, in a Tele- 
graphic Letter to the New York Tribune, of the Circumstances Which Made his 
Call for Aid Necessary — Ofificial Reports of Officers of the Army — Harper s 
Weekly on Shotgun Reform — Letter of Hon. B. Odell Duncan to Governor 
Chamberlain — Charleston Democrats Apply for Protection of the United States 
Forces — Governor Chamberlain's Letter in Response to the Application — The 
Governor's Telegraphic Letter to the New York Tribtine Exposing the Errors 
of Statements by United States Senator T. F. Randolph of New Jersey — Hon. 
Carl Schurz Comments on the Situation in South Carolina — Proclamation by 
Governor Chamberlain Regarding the Election. 

THE campaign from this time forth was a series of conflicts 
and disturbances, the responsibiHty for which no attempt 
will here be made to fix or apportion. The published documents 
of the time will be allowed to tell their own tale and to have such 
credit as they may appear to deserve in view of the character of 
their authors and their own character, and the conditions of the 
contest already so fully presented. 

In October, the New York Tribune published a series of let- 
ters descriptive of the campaign which attracted much attention. 
They were written by a native and resident of the State. Ex- 
tracts from the first of these letters are here given as affording a 
graphic and intelligent review of the situation. It was printed in 
the Tribune, on October 14, 1876, as a letter "from a white 
native of the State who is not a Republican ' — a description 
known to be correct in both particulars. 

Governor Chamberlain's Administration for a year and a half was the golden era 
of South Carolina politics. The negroes were free, enfranchised, and undisturbed in 
their rights, and yet the whites were conscientiously protected from plunder and high 
taxes. But Governor Chamberlain had not been in power a year when the XLIVth 

398 



ADMINISTRA 770 A'. 399 

Congress assembled at Washington. The great tidal wave of 1874 had sent a large 
Democratic majority to the House of Representatives, and prominent among that 
majority were many ex-Confederate generals. From the very moment it met I 
noticed an unusual, though carefully concealed, agitation among the fire-eating aris- 
tocracy of this State. For years their occupation had been gone. Discarded in pol- 
itics, out of office, they had been compelled to keep the noiseless tenor of their way 
along the cool, sequestered vale of private life. But their pride, it seems, had not yi-'^" 

fallen with their fortunes. They had been compelled to keep quiet ; they com- J^^ 

plied against their wills, and held to their old opinions. They bitterly reflected that 
they had seen better days, and nursed their wrath to keep it warm. But now a ray 
of hope dawned on them. They heard of Ben Hill defending Andersonville and 
Jefferson Davis in the Congress of the United States. They saw Southerners once 
more holding up their heads in the national capital. They could hardly trust their 
senses. And then they looked around them ; all the Southern States were once more 
Democratic except South Carolina and Louisiana. These States alone had Republi- 
can Governors and negro Legislatures. They alone had not their Stephenses, Gor- 
dons, Lamars, Hills, and Proctor Knotts in Congress. Then they reflected on Mis- 
sissippi — how her 30,000 negro majority had been transformed into 30,000 Democratic 
majority by the use of the shotgun and revolver. It was true that they had been 
relieved from oppression ; that their confessed debt to their reform Governor was yet 
unpaid, and that while they supported him, as in the past, there was no danger of 
misgovernment. But should they rest content with this ? Why not get the upper 
hand at home, and then make a desperate attempt to seize on the reins of power at 
Washington ? 

The fruits of such thoughts soon began to appear. A violent Democratic daily 
was established in Greenville — a section of the State where the whites outnumber the 
colored people. It began a series of the most outrageous onslaughts against Governor 
Chamberlain, and accompanying these were the most vehement exhortations for the 
whites to arouse and shake off their lethargy, and follow in the wake of Alabama and 
Mississippi. Very soon in several of the adjacent counties — the old Ku-Klux coun- 
ties where the negroes are in the minority — the whites became, during the spring of 
this year, estranged from Governor Chamberlain and opposed to the compromise 
policy. But despite its efforts the majority of the whites (all those living in counties 
where the negroes predominate) remained content with things as they were. And 
this, too, although a Columbia daily joined in the advocacy of the blood-and-thunder 
policy. The influence of the Charleston News and Courier had much to do with this. 
It was then the only daily published in Charleston, was by all odds the leading journal 
of the State, perhaps of the South, and had a circulation ten times as great as that 
of the Straight-out organs combined. It was found necessary to establish a fire-eat- 
ing daily in Charleston ; so The Journal of Commerce appeared in May. It was in- 
temperate past all expression in advocating its views ; and, as soon as possible, the 
duellist, R. Barnwell Rhetl, Jr., formerly editor of the Charleston Mercury and New 
Orleans Picayune, was installed as editor. He is the son of the famous R. Barnwell 
Rhett, Sr. , lately deceased, ex-Senator of the United States from South Carolina, the 
most ultra Southerner that ever breathed, the man to whose efforts above all others is 
to be attributed the passage of the Ordinance of Secession, the rival of Jefferson Davis 
for the Presidency of the Confederate States. 



400 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The State Democratic Convention was called unusually early by the Central Com- 
mittee, composed largely of fire-eaters, and the election of delegate after delegate 
pledged to Straight-outism in the compromise counties indicated the success of these 
tremendous efforts. The Convention finally met on the 15th of August. The Straight- 
outs were in the majority. But so strong was the confidence of the whites in Gov. 
Chamberlain that notwithstanding all the exertions that had been made, this majority 
was only a few votes. But it was sufficient. The Convention resolved to nominate a 
Straight-out, Bourbon Democratic ticket, and to make a desperate attempt to carry 
the State on the Mississippi plan. The ticket was nominated. Every man on it is 
an ex-Confederate officer, and bears wounds received while fighting against the 
Union. And at the head of it, nominated for Governor, stands Wade Hampton, 
the aristocrat of the aristocrats, the fire-eater of the fire-eaters, a famous General in 
the Confederate army, the incarnation of Calhounism, Jeff. Davisism, anti-North- 
ism, and Southern intolerance. After the measure was once resolved upon the dele- 
gates acted in concert, Butler, the hero of Hamburg, placed Hampton in nomination 
before the Convention. The whites once more resolved to trust them and surrendered 
at discretion. The Convention gave sentence for open war. After a torchlight pro- 
cession and a mammoth ratification meeting the delegates went home with a full 
understanding of the methods to be employed. 

:]c :{: :}c :{f :^ ^ 

But this is not all. The air is filled with reports of outrages and murders which 
never appear in print. No prominent Republican of either color can safely leave 
a town. Let a hint that he intends to ride out into the country get wind and he is 
sure to be ambuscaded. But more than this. The whites regard a Republican of 
their color with tenfold the vindictiveness with which they look upon the negro. 
Scores of white Republicans are hurrying in alarm to the newspaper offices to insert 
cards in which they renounce their party and profess conversion to Democracy. 
If these men hang back and refuse or neglect to join the precinct club or the nearest 
military company, their conduct is reported to the township meeting. A committee 
is appointed to request an explanation. They call on the suspected man at their 
earliest convenience. If he be sensible, he will submit profuse apologies and regrets, 
and hurriedly take up his rifle and follow them to the drill-room. Three or four white 
Circuit Judges have been dragooned into conformity, and the crowd of lesser lights 
threatens to absorb every white Republican in the State, except Governor Chamber- 
lain and the United States Senators. 

******* 

If a white man refuses to join the precinct club ; if a white man's loyalty to the 
party is suspected ; if a white Republican persists in his opinions, he is spotted, 
marked, doomed. He is scowled at if he walks abroad. If he passes a crowd of loi- 
tering whites at a street corner, an ominous silence falls on them till he is out of 
hearing. No warning is given him. No midnight visits are now paid, or Ku-Klux 
missives despatched. The whites have found by bitter experience that such things are 
boomerangs, which return with tenfold force to injure the thrower. They manage 
the matter better now. They wait till an obnoxious man whom they have doomed as 
a victim chances to stand, or pass near them, say on the public square, at the post-of- 
fice, in a bar-room, on the street. A crowd of white desperadoes will cluster near 
him or follow him. They appear to be drunk, and begin to quarrel over some silly 
matter having nothing to do with politics. Several bystanders come up and take 



A D MINIS TEA TION. 40 1 

sides. Finally blows are exchanged, pistols drawn, and a regular free fight occurs. 
Shots are fired by all the party. Yet, strange to say, when order is restored, it is 
found that not one of the combatants is injured, while the poor Republican has been 
struck by several random shots and killed. An account of the affray appears in the 
press (the press is almost wholly Democratic) under the heading, ' ' Street Row — One 
Man Killed." Not only are single men picked off in this way, but sham fights are ar- 
ranged by white ruffians on some non-political pretence, which swell to the proportion 
of riots, and in which several Republican bystanders are killed by chance shots, while 
none of the combatants are hurt. Of course the authors of these deeds go unpunished. 
In the first place, it is impossible to tell who fired the shot. Then it is unsafe for any 
one to indict anybody about it, or for the oflicials to be too zealous in investigating or 
prosecuting. But if an assassin does get into trouble by imprudence, his comrades, 
who of course compose most of the bystanders, are called as witnesses, and swear him 
out safely by giving in doctored testimony. 

I now find myself carried back to the time of secession. Then no Southerner 
dared to avow Union sentiments. There were thousands of them in the South, but 
they were ruthlessly subjected to a system of terrorism, and had to choose between 
conformity and almost certain death ; and with hardly an exception they conformed. 
To-day there are thousands of whites forced into this Confederate revival against their 
judgment and inclination ; but they must conform or take the consequences. They 
conform, and then, to avoid the imputation of lukewarmness, they endeavor to prove 
their sincerity by outdoing their comrades in violence. The same men head this 
movement who led the State into secession. They have thoroughly revived the policy 
of intimidation. Talk of the blacks being intimidated ! It is through the intimida- 
tion of the whites that the intimidation of the blacks is rendered possible. The elec- 
tion is to be carried on the Mississippi plan ; and a part of that plan, be it remem- 
bered, was the intimidation of the whites. Wade Hampton is as much a Mississip- 
pian as a South Carolinian. It is true that he is descended from Carolinians famous 
in the Revolution, that his ancestors have always lived in this State, that he himself 
is a citizen of this State, and that the family homestead is in the city of Columbia. 
But besides the immense estates he owned in South Carolina before the war, he had 
vast demesnes in Mississippi and other Southern States. This will not seem surpris- 
ing when I mention the fact that he possessed go, 000 acres of land in fee simple, and 
owned 4,000 slaves. Now the war took from him the bulk of his property. But so 
much remained after all his lossses that he is at this day the wealthiest man in the 
Southern States. Most of his property now, however, is in Mississippi. He has 
abandoned by far the larger part of his ancestral estates in South Carolina. Though 
his home is in Columbia, he spends half his time on his plantations in Mississippi. 
He has one plantation there on which 800 of his former slaves are employed — so well 
has he been able to keep up this old plantation plan while the small-farm system has 
been becoming wellnigh universal. The fact I desire to call attention to is this : 
Hampton was in Mississippi prior to the last election there, which the Democrats 
carried by the shot-gun policy. The similarity of the methods employed by the Dem- 
ocrats in the canvass going on here now, with Hampton as their leader, forces me to 
the conclusion that the experiment is to be repeated here. 

:}: '^ -^ '^. -^^ :}: Hi 



402 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The truth of this startling exposure of the terrific pressure 
brought upon all white South Carolinians to force them to con- 
form to the scheme of tyrannous electioneering instituted by the 
rifle clubs, is emphasized by the fact that before the end of the 
canvass the author of the letter to the Tribune himself succumbed 
to it. 



The following open letter, by William Lloyd Garrison, ad- 
dressed to Governor Chamberlain, was published simultaneously 
in the Boston Journal Tiwd New York Times, October i6, 1876. 

Boston, Oct. 13, 1876. 

Dear Governor Chamberlain : — Our acquaintance and friendship are not of to- 
day. Years ago, when you were completing your collegiate course at Yale, I knew 
how clear, just, and decided were your convictions in regard to the anti-slavery 
struggle, and how steadfast was your adhesion to them, under circumstances requiring 
rare moral courage and a noble disregard of consequences to yourself. Ever since, I 
have watched your career with deep interest ; especially from the time you became a 
citizen of South Carolina, and more particularly since your elevation to the Governor- 
ship of that State ; and, whether acting in your private or public capacity, your con- 
duct has been marked by such circumspection and wisdom, such gentlemanly courtesy 
and refinement, such patriotic devotion to the cause of the whole country, such fidelity 
to principle in ferreting out and exposing judicial corruption and official mal-admin- 
istration even under Republican rule, such disinterested zeal and sleepless vigilance 
in seeking to promote the best interests of all the people of South Carolina without 
distinction of caste or party, and such' heroism in unflinchingly confronting trials and 
dangers of the most formidable nature, as to excite my highest admiration, and to 
secure for yourself the sympathy, respect, confidence, and hearty approval of every 
true friend of freedom throughout the land. 

I hailed, as a cheering sign of the times, your nomination for the office which you 
now so meritoriously hold ; and, eminently deserving as you are of the support of all 
classes, for the signal services you have rendered the State in the expulsion of untrust- 
worthy officials, saving to the treasury millions of dollars as compared with previous 
Administrations, and assiduously endeavoring to effect a general reconciliation of 
disastrous conflictive elements on the basis of equal and exact justice, I cherished the 
hope that, however candidates for subordinate positions might be regarded, you at 
least would receive such a concurrent approval as would indicate a common desire to 
retain "the right man in the right place." It cannot be pretended that, with all 
your sympathy for a race so long " peeled, meted out, and trodden under foot," you 
have shown any undue leaning toward them in administering the laws, or dealing with 
official incompetency or corruption. On the contrary, you have spared no delinquent 
on account of his complexion ; but, as in the notable cases of Moses and Whipper, 
have nobly demonstrated that you have been " no respecter of persons," and have 
lifted yourself far above all partisan and caste considerations. Transeat in ex- 
emplum ! 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 403 

But, it seems, you are to be as bitterly scorned, denounced, run down, and ostra- 
cised as though you had been guilty of the worst crimes, and had prostituted all the 
powers committed to your trust for the most venal purposes. Against the opposition 
now so fiercely combined for your overthrow, — including as it does the great body of 
those who madly rose in arms for the destruction of the Federal Government, and who 
reveal themselves to be in a state of chronic sedition, — neither freedom of speech or 
of the press, nor the unquestionable right to assemble peaceably ad libitton for the 
adoption of legal political measures, can be exercised without imminent personal 
danger, or the risk of a bloody catastrophe. The laws of the State for the protection 
of equal rights among the citizens are openly and successfully set at defiance. The 
reign of terror is in the ascendant ; the reign of law is in the dust. As Governor of 
the State, without the prompt and vigorous interposition of the National Executive, 
you are as powerless to enforce order and afford security to the imperilled (whether 
white or black), in the discharge of their constitutional duties as the feeblest occupant 
of the soil. 

Standing before the country unimpeached and unimpeachable, you are certainly 
entitled to decent treatment and fair play by virtue of your official position ; but, in- 
stead of this, you can make no attempt to address your constituents, viva voce, without 
being assailed with the coarsest epithets, hissed and howled at, and overpowered by 
the ominous " rebel yell." This — as you have calmly set forth in your cogent, digni- 
fied, and irrefutable reply to the preposterous letter of the Chairman of the State 
Democratic Executive Committee — was your experience at the Republican gathering 
at Edgefield, at Newberry, at Abbeville, at Midway, and at Lancaster. Each of those 
gatherings was ruthlessly invaded by hundreds of mounted white miscreants, armed 
with shotguns and pistols (the " Reform " supporters of Tilden and Hendricksj, law- 
lessly demanding one half of the time for their side of the question, and virtually 
taking the whole — their object being not to argue but to menace, not to compare can- 
didates but to find a pretext for slaughtering the defenceless colored victims of their 
hatred and oppression. None but dastards and assassins behave in this manner ; and 
that you escaped from them with your life was owing, doubtless, to your admirable 
self-control, and to the consciousness that you were walking among scorpions and 
along the perilous edge of a precipice, the slightest deviation threatening a fatal 
result — so that no possible incitement to murder could be found in your speech or de- 
meanor. Their portraiture was drawn to the life ages ago (see Isaiah, 69th chapter) 
with prophetic skill and foresight — " Their lips have spoken lies, their tongue hath mut- 
tered perverseness ; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their 
hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood ; wasting 
and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not, and there is no 
judgment in their goings. Yea, truth faileth ; and he that departeth from evil maketh 
himself a prey." Shuddering earth and indignant heaven cry out against them in 
thunder tones. 

But, primarily, this controversy is not with you, nor with the Republican party, 
nor with those who have been so marvellously brought out of the house of bondage ; 
it is directly, flagrantly, and defiantly with the Ever Living God, whose laws are not 
to be violated with impunity ; whose edict is, that the reaping shall be as the sowing ; 
who was never yet evaded, duped, or circumvented ; and who, in the secjuel, " accord- 
ing to their deeds, accordingly he will repay." They are their own deadly enemies ; 



404 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

enemies to the character, repose, development, and prosperity of the State ; enemies 
of the Republic in all that makes it great, free, and independent ; enemies of the 
human race. And they are such by no special depravity of their own. They simply 
reveal how terrible has been the demoralization wrought by one class of the people 
reducing another class to brutal servitude, from generation to generation ; and the 
curse still cleaves to them like leprosy. Yes, negro slavery has cursed them in the 
city and in the field ; in their basket and in their store ; in the fruit of their body, the 
fruit of their cattle, and the fruit of their land ; in their manners and morals, their 
pursuits and aspirations, their understandings and hearts ; yet they are precisely what 
any other portion of the inhabitants of the land would be, placed under the same de- 
basing circumstances. Truly, " They grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in dark- 
ness, and they shall not prosper in their ways," for they are smitten with madness. 
Bedlam has no form of insanity more desperate, more deplorable, or more hopeless 
than that moral insanity which persistently calls good evil, and evil good ; which puts 
darkness for light, and light for darkness ; which regards chaos as order, and de- 
clares : 

" To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." 

Such, alas ! is the spirit, such the condition, and such the determination of a large 
majority of those at the South, who, in order to establish a vast slaveholding empire, 
rose in rebellion to effect a bloody dismemberment of the Union, never doubting of 
success ; and who, defeated in their evil design, are still strongly under the influence 
of lunacy. Hence their loss of all moral discernment, of all power of reasoning, of 
all sense of justice, of all self-control, when it is a question as to the enjoyment of 
equal rights and privileges with themselves on the part of those whom they once 
" yoked with the brute and fettered to the soil," whose chains are now severed, and 
on whom has been conferred the title of American citizenship by the Constitution and 
laws of the land. Hence their equipment with the bowie-knife, the revolver, and the 
shot-gun, in order to control by murderous violence where they have no legal right to 
rule ; and hence, too, the many horrible atrocities they have committed upon white 
and black Republicans alike. 

When charged with these, they have three modes of defence. First, tliey boldly 
declare that no such atrocities have been committed ; that it is only a base device to 
"wave the bloody shirt " for political ends ; and that the exercise of the franchise is 
as free and unconstrained for all classes at the South as at the North. Second, they 
unblushingly maintain that the entire responsibility for their occurrence lies at the 
doors of the colored people, and especially their leaders, who have sought to bring on 
a bloody strife, so as to invoke the interposition of the Federal arm to place them in 
the ascendency. Third, when unable to outface the facts presented, they meanly at- 
tempt to screen themselves from merited condemnation by alleging that the outrages 
complained of were perpetrated either by a few hot-headed young men or by a low 
class of whites, and that no countenance is given to them by the respectable members 
of society. 

These pleas, it will be seen, are utterly incoherent and irreconcilable. The last 
one, however, though most untruthful, has served to deceive a very considerable num- 
ber of persons at the North, and thus to allay that alarm and indignation which would 
suiely be awakened if tliey were correctly informed. No such state of things could 



ADMINISTRATION. 405 

exist if the intelligence, respectability, and wealth of the city, county, or State did not 
give at least a passive sanction to it. 

In some cases, no doubt, "hot-headed young men and low-born whites " have been 
particularly active in driving the terrified negroes into the bushes, or burning their 
dwellings, or subjecting their persons to horrible torture, or shooting them down like 
game at sight ; but never against the prevailing sentiment of the dominant class, upon 
whom a righteous God will affix the dread responsibility, and in due time bring a fear- 
ful retribution. " Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination ? Nay, 
they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush ; therefore they shall fall among 
them that fall : at the time I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord." 

Who were they that instituted and upheld the accursed slave system, that dehu- 
manized its victims, that provided its fetters and thumb-screws, that employed its 
slave-drivers and slave-hunters, that kept its bloodhounds ready to take the scent of 
the fugitives at a moment's warning, that enacted its barbarous code, that pronounced 
it a patriarchal and divinely sanctioned institution, that subjected to lynch law or 
banishment all who dared in its immediate locality to question its rectitude, that gath- 
ered their wealth from the unpaid labor of their lash-driven chattels, that trampled 
upon all the dearest relations of life, that abolished the marriage institution, that sold 
the husband from his wife and the mother from her babe, that made it a flagitious 
crime to teach a slave the alphabet, that denied the Bible to the millions deprived of 
it, that extended the domains of the slave power, that plotted rebellion against the 
government they had sworn to uphold, that for four years waged deadly war to con- 
summate their treasonable purposes, that saddled the nation with a debt of thousands 
of millions of dollars, that sent to bloody graves a mighty host ? 

Were they the poor " white trash " that are everywhere seen at the South, igno- 
rant, degraded, vicious, and only a slight remove from the lowest barbarians ; or 
were they those who stood recognized as highly respectable, intelligent, cultivated, 
wealthy, pious, and (save the mark) " chivalric "•? 

So it is now. The same class rule to-day in essentially the same spirit, and must 
be held responsible for whatever additional sufferings have been inflicted upon their 
former bondmen. 

And how palpably they indicate their unchanged spirit by the nomination of the 
leading slaveholder and rebel in the State, General Wade Hampton, as their standard- 
bearer and candidate for Governor of South Carolina ! In what attitude he stands to 
the cause of liberty and equal rights, what are his avowals and designs, no room is left 
for doubt. 

If fraud, intimidation, violence, and the shedding of innocent blood can effect it, 
he will be your successor, Governor Chamberlain ! But of your triumphant re-election 
(so well deserved at the hand of every voter) there can be no uncertainty, provided 
these methods are not resorted to, to the driving of thousands of your warm and grate- 
ful friends from the polls. You can be defeated only in this manner, thus rendering 
a legal choice impossible. Whatever may be the result, you have the proud conscious- 
ness of having acted well your part, and faithfully discharged every official duty and 
obligation. Yours is a position as sublime as it is critical. Faithful and fearless to 
the end, you shall take your place in American history by the side of the foremost 
champions of Liberty and Justice. Fraternally yours, 

WM. LLOYD GARRISON. 



406 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The disturbances of the pubHc peace continuing' and increas- 
ing, Governor Chamberlain, in the early part of October, applied 
to the President for aid in suppressing domestic violence in the 
State. The following documents exhibit the official action on 
this application : 

PROCLAMATION 

By the Presidetit of the United States of America. 

Whereas, It has been satisfactorily shown to me that insurrection 
and domestic violence exist in several counties of the State of South 
Carolina, and that certain combinations of men against law exist in many- 
counties of said State known as '' Rifle Clubs," who ride up and down 
by day and night in arms, murdering some peaceable citizens and in- 
timidating others, which combinations, though forbidden by the laws 
of the State, cannot be controlled or suppressed by the ordinary course 
of justice ; and 

JVhereas, It is provided in the Constitution of the United States 
that the United States shall protect every State in this Union on ap- 
plication of the Legislature, or the Governor when the Legislature 
cannot be convened, against domestic violence ; and 

JVhereas, By laws in pursuance of the above it is provided in the laws 
of the United States that in all cases of insurrection in any State, or of 
obstruction to the laws thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of 
the United States, on application of the Legislature of such State, or of 
the Executive when the Legislature cannot be convened, to call for the 
militia of any other State or States, or to employ such part of the land 
and naval forces as shall be judged necessary for the purpose of sup- 
pressing such insurrection or causing the laws to be duly executed ; 
and 

Whereas, The Legislature of said State is not now in session, and 
cannot be convened in time to meet the present emergency, and the 
Executive of the State, under Section 4 of Article IV. of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, 
has therefore made due application to me in the premises for such part 
of the military force of the United States as may be necessary and ade- 
quate to protect said State and the citizens thereof against domestic 
violence, and to enforce the due execution of the laws ; and 

JVhereas, It is required that whenever it may be necessary in the 
judgment of the President to use the military force for the purpose 
aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents 
to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective homes within a 
limited time. 

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United 
States, do hereby make Proclamation, and command all persons en- 
gaged in said unlawful and insurrectionary proceedings to disperse and 
retire peaceably to their respective abodes within tliree days from this 



ADMINISTRATION. 407 

date, and hereafter abandon said combinations and submit themselves 
to the laws and constituted authorities of said State. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washing- 
ton, this 17th day of October, in the year of our Lord 1876, and of the 
independence of the United States one hundred and one. 

U. S. GRANT. 
By the President : 
John L. Cadwalader, Acting Secretary of State. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 17, 1876. 

To General W. T. Sherman, Commatiditig U. S. A. : 

Sir — In view of the existing condition of affairs in South Carolina, 
there is a possibility that the Proclamation of the President of this date 
may be disregarded. To provide against such a contingency you will 
immediately order all the available force in the military division of the 
Atlantic to report to Gen. Ruger, commanding at Columbia, S. C, and 
instruct that officer to station his troops in such localities that they 
may be most speedily and effectually used, in case of resistance to the 
authority of the United States. It is hoped that a collision may thus 
be avoided ; but you will instruct Gen. Ruger to let it be known that 
it is the fixed purpose of the government to carry out fully the spirit of 
the Proclamation, and to sustain it by the military force of the General 
Government, supplemented, if necessary, by the militia of the various 
States. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. D. CAMERON, 

Secretary of War. 



In reply to urgent requests from many quarters, Governor 
Chamberlain sent to the New York Tribune the following tele- 
graphic letter in reference to, and explanatory of, his course in 
appealing to the President for aid : 

[From the New York Tribune, October 25, 1876.] 

To the Editor of the Tribune : 

Sir — The condition of South Carolina justly attracts the attention 
of the country. The gravest questions are here presented ; questions 
of constitutional power and right, of Executive prudence and duty, of 
political discretion, and, unhappily, of partisan and individual interests. 
To be at once clear-sighted and impartial among the excitements and 
animosities which now envelop all parties here, is exceedingly difficult. 
I should claim more than will be conceded to me if I were to assert my 
own entire exemption from disturbing influences. The fact that I am 
myself a candidate will be set down to discredit me as a witness or 



408 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

judge. On the other hand, those who denounce my action and deny 
my statements would seem to be exposed, in any fair estimate, to equal 
discredit. When I assert upon my personal and official responsibility 
that domestic violence exists here of such kind and degree as to be be- 
yond the restraints of ordinary civil and judicial agencies ; and when 
Wade Hampton, upon his personal responsibility, denies it, the country 
must look to the character and information of the opposing witnesses, 
and to the evidence which each presents to inform its judgment. I do 
not perceive that the exposure to bias is greater in my case than in that 
of my opponent. Sir James Mackintosh says : " Official responsibility 
composes the mind and sobers the judgment." I certainly feel the 
truth of the remark, and I venture to think that I am under heavier 
bonds at this moment to speak the truth and to act with all the impar- 
tiality I can command than any other man in South Carolina. 

The statement I now make is called forth by the special efforts 
made by my opponents here to set the sentiment of the country against 
the cause which I have the fortune to represent, and against the Presi- 
dent of the United States, who has responded to my call upon him for 
aid in suppressing domestic violence. The press despatches present 
only the views of my opponents. I do not expect to affect partisans 
greatly on either side. Without doubt, many, if not most. Republicans 
will sustain my action, and that of the President, because we are of 
their party, while, for a similar reason. Democrats will denounce it. 
Fortunately there is a considerable reserve force of men not blinded or 
perverted by mere partisanship. By such men a statement from me 
will be candidly considered ; and to such men I especially address it. 

NO TIME TO ASSEMBLE THE LEGISLATURE. 

The provision that " the United States shall protect each State of 
this Union on aj^plication of the Legislature or of the Executive (when 
the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence," is a 
part of the Constitution of the United States. It was intended to meet 
a foreseen necessity. It imposes a high duty upon the General Govern- 
ment. The only inquiry at present needful is, has a case occurred 
here which warrants the exercise of the power thus conferred and the 
discharge of a duty thus imposed ? The answer depends mainly upon 
the facts. The President of the United States, upon my application 
conformably to the terms of this constitutional provision has decided 
to grant the protection demanded. It has been suggested that the 
Legislature might have been convened in this State. Certainly this 
suggestion can have no foundation except in the desire for delay. It 
does not go to the merits of the case. If a case has now arisen which 
would warrant the Legislature in calling for protection against domes- 
tic violence, then the Legislature could not be convened in time to se- 
cure protection before the domestic violence would have accomplished 
its purpose. Besides this, there are no funds available, or which can 
be made available, within the next sixty days for the expenses insep- 
arable from a session, however short, of the Legislature. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 4O9 

THE FACT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. 

As to the fact of domestic violence in this State, what Tcind and 
measure of proof should be required ? It is well to notice that the 
Constitution does not prescribe the kind or extent of domestic violence 
which will warrant either the Legislature or the Executive in applying 
for protection or the United States in granting it. The United States 
Revised Statutes give power to the President *' in case of an insurrec- 
tion in any State against the Government thereof," to give military aid 
on application of the Executive, when the Legislature cannot be con- 
vened. Whatever may be the exact legal definition of the term " do- 
mestic violence," as used in the Constitution, or " insurrection," as 
used in the statutes, it will be conceded by all that the occasions here 
contemplated are such as present so formidable a resistance or obstruc- 
tion to the discharge of the functions of the Government of the State, 
the enforcement of its laws, and the protection of its citizens, as to re- 
quire greater force than the Government of the State possesses for 
that purpose. Neither by the Constitution nor the statutes is it made 
a condition of the exercise of the power in question, that the domestic 
violence or insurrection shall have overthrown the Courts or actually 
resisted their officers or processes. The occasions for its exercise seem 
to rest in the official discretion of the Executives of the State and 
United States. Their official responsibility is the safeguard against its 
abuse. This is the doctrine laid down by Chief-Justice Taney, in Luther 
against Borden. There is, therefore, no specific infallible test by which 
it may be known when the proper moment or occasion has arrived. 

Those who assert that such an occasion does not now exist in South 
Carolina, declare that the civil officers have not been resisted in the 
execution of the laws. But domestic violence may arise and utterly 
paralyze the arm of the civil authority, without actual physical resist- 
ance to any officer of the law. Insurrection may exist in complete 
proportions before a blow has been struck against any civil officer. To 
send a constable or sheriff to arrest a thousand armed and mounted 
men, assembled in violation of law, and engaged in riotous acts and 
murders, is not necessary to establish the fact of the existence of do- 
mestic violence or insurrection. To send a colored constable or a 
treacherous white sheriff with a colored posse to arrest or disperse a 
thousand armed, mounted, disciplined white men, organized in military 
companies and acting under the command of military officers, in the 
midst of a violent political campaign in this State would be an act of 
criminal folly. 

THE RIFLE CLUBS. 

I now proceed to present a statement of the facts upon which 
the present call upon the President for aid in suppressing domestic 
violence in this State has been made. I shall make no statement 
which does not rest on official information now in my possession. 

First : As to the rifle clubs. These clubs are organizations hav- 
ing every distinctive feature of military companies. They exist, unless. 



4IO GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

disbanded since my proclamation of the 7th inst., of which I have no 
evidence, in every county in the State. I have the evidence of the 
existence of 213 rifle clubs, with the names of some or all of their 
officers. These clubs have an average membership of 60 men. The 
evidence shows that the members of this force of nearly 13,000 men 
are armed with not less than 8,000 improved breech-loading rifles. 
My estimate of the whole number of men enrolled in the rifle clubs 
and armed with effective weapons is not less than 16,000 or 18,000, 
while the estimates of my informants vary from 20,000 to 30,000, 
besides company officers. The evidence shows that these clubs are 
organized into regiments. I have before me at this moment an authen- 
tic printed copy of the " general orders " issued by the colonel of one of 
these regiments, countersigned by the adjutant, in which instructions 
are specifically given to the lieutenant-colonel, major, and command- 
ing officers of companies. The evidence points also to the existence 
of general officers having control of other formations composed of 
regiments and brigades. There is much evidence from independent 
sources showing that fully 10,000 improved breech-loading rifles have 
been purchased by rifle clubs in this State within the last four months. 

These organizations are not only outside the law, but they are 
strictly prohibited by the laws of the State. The evidence is over- 
whelming that these clubs were formed and have been constantly used 
as the chief basis of organization of the Democratic party. During 
the month of August I attended Republican meetings, among others, 
in the counties of Edgefield, Newberry, Abbeville, Barnwell, and Lan- 
caster, at each of which these clubs were present in numbers varying 
from 400 to 1,000. They were heavily armed with pistols, and were 
commanded by persons bearing the titles of military officers. They 
marched and manoeuvred as ordinary military companies. They at- 
tended these meetings as Democrats, took control of them in some 
instances, and in all instances enforced their demand for participation 
in Republican meetings by their presence as armed, organized bodies. 

In their several localities these clubs have operated openly and 
ostensibly as Democratic campaign organizations. Far and wide in 
the State they have ridden by day and by night as a menace to the 
members of the Republican party, especially its colored members, 
uttering threats, and not seldom executing them. Prior to the recent 
instances of widespread violence which occasioned my Proclamation 
and call upon the President, these clubs, or those who were members 
thereof, had killed, exclusive of the Hamburg and EUenton massacres, 
not less than fifteen members of the Republican party ; had whipped 
and outraged hundreds, and had individually threatened thousands. 
They had for the most part evaded punishment by reason of their num- 
bers and the terror inspired both in their victims and in the officers of 
the law. Constitirting or representing as they did almost the entire 
body of white men in their localities, no efficient way of enforcing the 
law was left. A constable or sheriff with a colored posse would have 
been massacred in an attempt to execute the law. If I were to pass 



ADMINISTRA TION. 4 1 I 

through the same scenes again, I should never order, advise, or permit 
the effort to be made to overcome such obstructions to the law by any 
force then at my command. It would be not less idle than cruel. 

These clubs constituted a vast conspiracy against the State Govern- 
ment. A conspiracy is defined to be a confederation of two or more 
persons to do unlawful acts, or to do lawful acts by unlawful means. 
This conspiracy was a confederation to do unlawful acts by unlawful 
means. It rose to proportions and exhibited itself in wkys which made 
all ordinary civil agencies impotent to cope with it. It aimed, by the 
commission of crimes ranging from threats of personal injury to mur- 
der, to destroy the freedom of a majority of the people in the present 
election, and thus to overthrow the lawful Government of the State. 

THE ASSASSINATIONS AT ELLENTON. 

I come now to the transaction which is known here as " the Ellen- 
ton massacre," and which was the immediate cause of my call upon 
the President for military aid. The country is already familiar with 
the Hamburg massacre, which was at the time of its occurrence, in July, 
declared by my opponents here to be sporadic and unpremeditated in 
its character. EUenton, the centre of the scene of the latter and more 
extensive massacre, is situated in the same county with Hamburg 
(Aiken), and about twenty miles distant. The counties adjoining 
Aiken on the north and south are Edgefield and Barnwell. The riot 
and massacre continued from the i6th to the 24th of September. The 
affair was so carefully planned, all truthful reports of its character 
were so successfully suppressed, and the terror inspired in all the local 
officers of the county was so great, that I was unable to obtain my first 
official report through special officers sent from Columbia until the 
8th of October. Even then the report was very imperfect on account 
of the fact that the colored people who were the witnesses and objects 
of the violence were absent from their homes through fear, and, when 
accessible, were in many instances unwilling to give their testimony 
until further protection could be guaranteed to them. An elaborate 
investigation has now been made, and the following statement is made 
up from the written testimony of more than one hundred sworn wit- 
nesses who have been carefully examined. It will be seen that all the 
discrepancies between the present statement and that made in my 
letter of October 4th to the Chairman of the Democratic State Execu- 
tive Committee simply add features of deeper horror to the affair. 

In the county of Aiken and the adjoining counties of Edgefield 
and Barnwell the white Democrats began as early as last July system- 
atically to inform the colored Republicans that the Democrats had 
resolved to carry the coming election, and that the colored Repub- 
licans would have to vote with them. In August and the early part of 
September these threats took a more definite form. The colored 
Republicans were told far and wide that if they did not vote the Demo- 
cratic ticket they would be killed. Scarcely a colored man can now be 
found to whom these threats were not personally made. They were 



412 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

ordered to discontinue their political meetings, and were told that a 
list of all their leaders had been made out, and that these leaders 
would be killed. Silverton, Rouse's Bridge, Chavis' Store, Matlock's 
Church, and Union Bridge are points in the vicinity of Ellenton. In 
this section is a large colored population, constituting perhaps the 
strongest Republican section of Aiken County. 

During the week preceding the i6th of September word was 
sent to the colored Republicans, by the members of white rifle clubs, 
that the Republican club at Chavis' Store would be broken up on 
Saturday the i6th. The rifle clubs in that section, contrary to 
their custom, assembled on Friday the 15th, instead of on Saturday, 
at Matlock's Church. The Republican club met on the 16th accord- 
ing to the custom ; but, owing to the threats referred to, only 
twenty-three persons were present. On the i6th throughout the 
day the rifle clubs were assembling at Matlock's Church, five 
or six clubs being present numbering not less than 300 men, a 
part of the men being from Augusta, Ga. A little before sunset of the 
1 6th these clubs formed as military companies, and marched upon a 
run down to Chavis' Store, where the Republican club was supposed 
to be assembled. They found only about ten Republicans present. 
The rifle club leaders demanded to see the leader of the Republican 
club. Columbus Rountree, the Chairman of the Republican club, 
being absent, Samuel Darby acted as spokesman. The chief spokes- 
man of the rifle clubs then told the colored members of the Republican 
club that they must not meet again ; " that they would be all killed off 
if they did." Seeing one colored man with a shotgun, they took it 
from him ; but, finding it worthless, they retained his ammunition, and 
gave back the gun. The colored men were then informed that " there 
had got to be a fight between the whites and the blacks," and the rifle 
clubs then demanded that the colored men present should step out in 
line and " fight it out." This oft'er was naturally declined. Finally, 
Avith yellings and threats of vengeance, the rifle clubs marched off, de- 
claring that they were going to kill Gloster Holland and Simon Coker 
(two colored members of the Legislature) that night. During the 
night of the i6th several colored men were killed in this section. 

On the mornmg of the 17th the rifle clubs appeared in large num- 
bers at Rouse's Bridge, near which, on the edge of a swamp, the col- 
ored people, men, women, and children, panic-stricken by the murders 
of the previous night, had gathered. About nine o'clock on the morn- 
ing of the 17th (Sunday) the rifle clubs formed across a field in front 
of Rouse's Bridge, threw out pickets, and assumed the position of a 
hostile army. Before moving forward they sent a messenger to the 
leading colored men, who had now concealed themselves as much as 
possible in the swamp. This messenger called for the leading colored 
men, and asked if they would compromise. The colored men replied 
that they had no quarrel, and did not know what compromise meant. 
The representative of the rifle clubs then said that the clubs had a 
warrant for the arrest of Alexander Pope, and they wanted him. The 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 4 1 3 

colored men answered that Pope was not with them, but that if the rifle 
clubs had a warrant for any one they could come and search for him. 

The representative of the rifle clubs then proposed a conference of 
five men from each side. Such a conference took place, and it was 
agreed that both parties should disperse and go to their homes. The 
white men who attended the conference, on their way back to the lines 
of the rifle clubs, chanced to meet three colored men retiring to their 
homes in pursuance of the agreement now stated. They instantly fired 
upon them, and killed Henry Campbell, and wounded Abram Over- 
street in the head and Nelson Bush in the thigh. This demonstration 
convinced the colored people that the conference was a mere trick, and 
that the purpose of the rifle clubs was to kill them in detail after draw- 
ing them out of the swamp, as well as to learn their numbers, and 
whether they were armed. During the conference the colored men 
had freely stated that they had only a few shotguns, and not a round 
of fixed ammunition of any kind. 

During the 17th a large part of the rifle clubs moved off from 
Rouse's Bridge toward Union Bridge and Ellenton, on the Port Royal 
Railroad, and during the day shot and killed a considerable number of 
colored men, probably as many as twelve. At one cabin they found six 
colored men, who had crawled out of the swamp to get something to 
eat. The rifle clubs surprised them, killed two of them in the yard, 
two more while running toward the swamp, and wounded the remain- 
ing two. 

Early on the morning of the i8th the rifle clubs appeared in great 
force on the Port Royal Railroad, having been reenforced by white 
men from Augusta. They moved up and down the railroad, killing all 
colored men whom they chanced to find. Among their victims was an 
old man, of ninety years, and a harmless deaf-and-dumb boy. 

About ten o'clock the report was received that the colored men had 
assembled at Robbins' Station, about fifteen miles below Ellenton, 
Thereupon about twenty-five men from the rifle clubs got into a box- 
car, and were taken down to Robbins' Station. Here they found 
Simon Coker, already named, an honest, peaceful man, well known to 
me personally as a member of the Legislature from Barnwell County, 
sitting on the railroad platform with his wife and a colored female 
schoolteacher. Coker was then awaiting the train from Ellenton in 
order to go to Yemmassee, where he could telegraph me the condition 
of things in his vicinity. The rifle club men forced him into the box- 
car, took him back to Ellenton, and, after a brief parley, shot him in an 
open field in full presence of the passengers on the train and of the 
rifle clubs, robbing his dead body of his watch, money, shirt-studs, 
and ring. A number of colored men were also killed at and near Rob- 
bins' Station by another detachment of the rifle clubs on the same day, 
but the number cannot yet be fixed. 

Late in the day, on Monday, the i8th, the main body of the rifle 
clubs, with large reinforcements, returned to Rouse's Bridge, and dur- 
ing Monday night completely surrounded the swamp in which the 



414 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

crowd of colored persons were hiding to the number of about eighty or 
ninety, throwing out a line of pickets armed with breech-loading rifles. 
Early on the morning of Tuesday, the 19th, one of the leaders of the 
rifle clubs, a prominent white man living in this vicinity, told his confi- 
dential colored servant that '' they had got the niggers in a bunch at 
Rouse's Bridge, and got them surrounded, and, by God, they intended 
to kill the last one of them." 

About eight o'clock the officers of the rifle clubs gave orders to 
their force to advance, and they had actually advanced to within one 
hundred yards of the spot where the colored people were huddled to- 
gether in the swamp awaiting their doom, one or two of them having 
been actually shot by the skirmishers, when Captain Lloyd, of the 
Eighteenth United States Infantry, appeared on the scene with a small 
command of United States soldiers. The guns of the rifle clubs were 
levelled at his command, under the belief, as the rifle clubs informed 
him, that a black militia company was coming to relieve the colored 
people in the swamp. On discovering that they were United States 
troops a messenger was despatched to inquire of Captain Lloyd what 
he proposed to do. The officer responded that he had no orders, ex- 
cept to keep the peace. A consultation then took place between the 
chief of the rifle clubs and Captain Lloyd, in which it was agreed that 
the rifle clubs would disperse. Thereupon, under the protection of 
the United States troops, the colored people came out from their 
hiding-place, and clustered around the soldiers with expressions of 
gratitude not to be described. 

The rifle-club men did not affect to conceal their chagrin at the 
intervention of the United States troops, and loudly and repeatedly 
declared in the presence of the troops that they had intended to " kill 
the last one of the niggers." The rifle clubs now broke camp, and ap- 
parently started homeward, but their tracks could be followed and dis- 
tinguished by the bodies of dead negroes whom they chanced to meet, 
or whom they succeeded in hunting down. The rifle clubs which had 
assembled at Rouse's Bridge for this final slaughter were estimated by 
the army ofiicers present to number, at least, eight hundred men, fully 
armed and equipped for war, and collected from the counties of Edge- 
field, Aiken, and Barnwell. Before leaving Rouse's Bridge the leaders 
of the rifle clubs informed the colored people that " the Yankees had 
saved them this time, but they would get them the next time." At the 
same time the rifle clubs declared that " they intended to carry the 
election and kill every colored Republican who would not vote the 
Democratic ticket." 

The testimony before me clearly shows that the pretext heretofore 
assigned by the rifle clubs for their assembling — the assault of the two 
colored robbers upon Miss Harley, a fact which I assigned in my former 
letter, already referred to, as the cause or occasion of the riot — is utterly 
unfounded. The rifle clubs assembled in pursuance of a well-matured 
plan, known and published in the three counties, to " i)ut down the nig- 
gers " by inflicting such violence upon them and by such demonstrations 



A DMINIS TEA TION. 4 1 5 

of force as to cause the leaders to flee and the mass of the followers to 
forego voting or vote the Democratic ticket. 

I have now merely described in outline the domestic violence and 
insurrection as it was actually developed at Ellenton and within a radius 
of fifteen miles therefrom. But in truth this was only one phase or 
centre of the violence and insurrection. It virtually overspread the 
counties of Aiken and Barnwell, producing a reign of terror which de- 
populated large sections of those counties of all colored males. Inves- 
tigations now in progress indicate unmistakably that the actual murders 
committed exceed the estimates heretofore formed by me or by those 
most familiar with the facts. Scores of colored men are still missing in 
addition to those already known to have been killed. 

These are some of the leading evidences of the domestic violence 
and insurrection which were the occasion of my call upon the President 
for military aid. The facts presented are clearly proved, and the con- 
clusions reached are, I think, sustained by the facts. They make a 
case amply warranting my call and the President's response. To have 
done less would have been to abandon the chief functions of govern- 
ment, and to have permitted domestic violence and insurrection to ac- 
complish results against which the Constitution of the United States 
was designed to guard effectually. 

False Representations. There is one pretext somewhat widely 
suggested in excuse or mitigation of the offences which I have de- 
scribed, namely, that those who engaged in this conspiracy were 
crushed by an insupportable burden of misgovernment. In answer to 
this I assert that by the statements of a vast majority of the leading 
men and organs of public opinion in this State among the present 
supporters of Wade Hampton, prior to his nomination, my adminis- 
tration of public affairs for the past two years has been honorable and 
successful ; and that at no time since 1868 were the public evils in 
this State so far abated or the prospect of complete good government 
so bright. The utterances of Democratic newspapers and Democratic 
speakers and leaders on this point would fill volumes. No man who 
knows or seeks to know the truth will question this assertion. 

The charge that I have been influenced by the desertion of Repub- 
licans to the Democratic party would receive no consideration from 
those acquainted with the political situation here. A free vote to-day 
in this State will elect the Republican candidates by fully 20,000 
majority. Besides this I declare, and I challenge any shadow of 
proof to the contrary, that no party interest, however great or pres- 
sing, could ever have induced me so much as to contemplate the use 
of my official position for asking the military aid of the United States 
to carry an election. It is only as an incident inseparable from the 
case at this time that I have considered or alluded to facts or results 
affecting political parties. 

I have acted as the Chief Magistrate of the State. I have sought to 
protect the lives and rights of the people without regard to party. No 
man in South Carolina, by reason of any act of mine or of the Presi-^ 



4l6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

■dent of the United States, will be hindered or dissuaded from vot- 
ing the Democratic ticket if his free judgment shall so incline him. 
Right-minded men would have judged us recreant to our trusts if, in a 
proper case, we had failed to exert the powers intrusted to us for the 
restoration of public peace and the preservation of the State Gov- 
ernment. Upon a calm review I am convinced that such a case has 
arisen and that such a condition of affairs now exists in this State 
as warrants my action and that of the President of the United 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor. 
Columbia, S. C, Oct. 24, 1876. 

The following official reports of officers of the army confirm 
statements in the foregoing letter and throw additional light on 
-one dark incident of this strange campaign : 

Aiken, S. C, Sept. 21, 1876. 

Assistant Adjutant General, Department of the South, Louisville, Ky., Through 
Commanding Officer United States Troops, Aiken, S. C: 

Sir — I have the honor to report that, in compliance with the telegram of Brevet 
Brigadier General Commanding the Department, dated Louisville, Ky. , September l8, 
1S76, directing me to proceed immediately with the bulk of my force to Silverton, S. 
C, and report the condition of things and facts as to any trouble at that place, 
received at 9 p.m., on the i8th inst., I left this camp at or about 10:30 p.m. of the 
same date with I^ieut. C. B. Hinton and thirty-three men of Companies F and I, 
Eighteenth Infantry, with three days' rations, and marched about twenty miles to 
Rouse's Bridge, S. C, arriving there about 9:30 o'clock on the morning of the igth 
inst. About seven miles from Aiken we were challenged by a detachment of some 
fifteen or twenty men on the road, mounted and armed, and apparently organized as 
a regular company of cavalry. There were other men secreted in a barn near the 
road. In questioning the man who had charge of the party, he stated that he had 
been within a few miles of Rouse's Bridge and found the road picketted, and that 
there had been some skirmishing, and that he had orders to report there in the morn- 
ing. On arriving at Rouse's Bridge, we found a body of about one hundred negroes, 
some of them armed with old-patterned muskets and shotguns. They were very much 
excited, and seemed to possess no organization. We had scarcely arrived at our camp- 
ing ground, when we heard shots hred, and the negroes running up the road crying 
that one of their number had been shot, and that the white men w^re arming. They 
afterward acknowledged that nobody had been shot, and that the shots had been fired 
by themselves. A short time after a body of some 320 white men, all mounted and 
well armed, and under command of one A. P. Butler, were seen coming up the road 
from the direction in which the negroes had been fired upon. Lieut. Hinton and 
myself went down the road to meet them, and on approaching the party found that 
they had thrown out a skirmish line in the woods, almost surrounding the negroes, 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 4 1 7 

while the main body marched up the road. As soon as we were recognized as United 
States officers, we heard the command given the skirmishers to halt, by a man who 
rode in the woods, evidently to give the skirmish line information of our presence. 
There was undoubted evidence of a well-digested plan of attack which, if carried out, 
would have resulted in the slaughter of nearly all the negroes in the place. This 
man Butler has a regularly organized body of men known throughout this country as 
" Butler Cavalry," a well-drilled and organized company. Besides this force there 
were other men from this vicinity and some from Augusta, Ga., under the command 
of Butler. 

From what I can learn the party which I intercepted at Rouse's Bridge was the 
largest that had got together and included almost all those which had been raid- 
ing through the country for two or three days previous. After finding that there 
were United States troops on the ground, these men proposed to disband and go home, 
provided the negroes would do likewise. An agreement to that effect was easily made 
as the negroes were already much frightened, and both parties left the vicinity. 

On the morning of the 25th inst. we marched from Rouse's Bridge to Ellenton, a 
distance of five or six miles. On the road I saw at the house where we stopped for 
water the bodies of three negroes who had been killed, two of whom had been dead 
since Sunday. The negroes were afraid to bury them, as they said the white nien who 
were there on Monday had ordered them not to. I saw two negroes at Rouse's 
Bridge who had been wounded, and have positive information of five others who were 
killed in the vicinity of Ellenton. As far as I can learn, only one white man has been 
killed during the four days' rioting. 

On our arrival at Ellenton we found a party of twenty-five or thirty mounted, 
white men, who left town soon after our arrival with the avowed intention of going 
to their homes. I sent a small detail in a light wagon back to the bridge, which re- 
turned in the evening and reported all qinet there, and no armed parties on any of the 
roads in the vicinity. It was reported to me in the afternoon that there were disturb- 
ances down on the Garnwell road. I was requested to send down to inform the peo- 
ple in that vicinity of the agreement which had been made at Rouse's Bridge. Lieut. 
Ilinton, with one of the citizens rode down to Robbins, about six miles, and found 
there a body of twenty or thirty white men, who stated that they were a detachment 
from Gen. Hagood's command, who were at Steel Creek. They stated that Hagood 
had authority from Judge Wiggins to make arrests and disarm the negroes, and that 
they had been sent there to protect the negroes while burying the body of Simon 
Coker, a colored member of the Legislature, who had been shot near Ellenton, on 
Tuesday morning. 

Just Anton saw Esker's body. This man was brought from his home at Robbins to 
Ellenton and deliberately shot. I estimate the total number of white men engaged in 
the riot as not less than eight hundred, coming from Edgefield, Aiken, and Barnwell, 
.S. C. The negroes at and about Ellenton were completely cowed. Many of them 
came in from hiding-places in the woods while we were there. They were afraid to 
go to work, saying they were afraid of being shot down in the cotton fields. 

The Port Royal Railroad was torn up about ten miles above Ellenton during the 
riot. The General .Superintendent said that his men were afraid to work on the road, 
and requested me to leave him a small guard. Six men were left at Ellenton for that 
purpose, and were withdrawn and joined their companies next day. The road was 



41 8 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

almost entirely repaired when the detachment returned. The detachment left Ellen- 
ton at 12:30 P.M., Sept. 2ist, on an extra car and engine connecting with the 2:20 
o'clock train from Augusta and arrived at Aiken at 4 p.m. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

THOMAS J. LLOYD, 
Capt. Eighteenth Infantry, Commanding Detachment. 

Post of Aiken, S. C, Sept. 23, 1876. 
Respectfully forwarded to the Assistant Adjutant General of the Department 
of the South. 

P'rom what I have learned since my arrival here, I am satisfied that Capt. Lloyd's 
arrival at Rouse's Bridge was just in time to prevent a massacre of the negroes. 

WILLIAM MILLS, 
Captain Second Infantry, Commanding Post. 

Head-Quarters Department of the South, 
Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 5, 1S76. 

Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant General United States Army, through 
head-quarters, division of the Atlantic. 

The order from the head-quarters for Capt. Lloyd to proceed to the place of dis- 
turbances was based on an application by telegraph from the Governor of South Caro- 
lina, stating that a serious conflict was in progress, and that he had no adequate 
means for its suppression. The presence of troops, it appears by the within report, 
averted serious consequences. An investigation of the facts and circumstances con- 
nected with these riots is, I am informed, now being made by the civil authorities of 
South Carolina. 

THOMAS II. RUGER, 

Col. Eighteenth Infantry, 
Brevet Brigadier General, U. S. A. Commanding. 



The following editorial article appeared in Harper s Weekly, 
October 28, 1876. It fairly exhibits the prevailing sentiment of 
the time among the conservative Republicans of the North re- 
garding the condition in South Carolina, and the action of Presi- 
dent Grant in response to Governor Chamberlain's call for aid : 

shotgun reform. 

The Democratic effort to arouse indignation against the President's South Carolina 
proclamation has signally and ludicrously failed. For why should the countrj- be 
angry that the President, under the law, proposes to protect all citizens of South 
Carolina in their rights ? There is no doubt that the Democrats in that State mean 
to carry it for " Tilden and Reform " by means of the shotgun. We have no more 
doubt of it than we have that the Tilden reform is a fraudulent pretence. The Gov- 
ernor of the State is conscious of his inability, in the peculiar situation, to keep the 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 4 1 9 

peace. There is no time for delay, for the mischief is designed for a particular day, 
and if it is to be prevented, the means must be made ready. The protest against the 
Governor's action and the President's response is a demand that the Democratic Der- 
ringer shall control the election. Every good citizen regrets that there should be any 
armed force near the polls. But it is altogether better that, if there must be such a 
force, it should be that of the United States to protect every voter of all parties, 
rather than that of a Democratic rifle club to prevent Republicans from voting. 

The danger will be denied, and the law-respecting character of the South Caro- 
lina Democracy will be asserted, and the words of Wade Hampton quoted. The 
facts meanwhile remain unchanged. There is no more doubt of the existence and 
purpose of the rifle clubs than there was of the Ku-Klux and the White League. 
There is no more doubt that it is the purpose of Wade Hampton and his associates 
practically to suppress and destroy the colored vote than there was of their intention 
formerly to carry slavery into the Territories. The rifle club and Ku-Klux are 
simply suckers from the root of slavery. When they become so formidable as to 
threaten the honesty of the election, it would be merely idiocy to intrust the protec- 
tion of the voters to those who are armed to overawe them. Does anybody pretend 
that Democratic voters are threatened in South Carolina, or that they are in any dan- 
ger of being driven from the polls or prevented from voting ? If anybody should as- 
sert it, he would be laughed into silence. It is only Republicans in that State who 
are threatened by Democrats, and it is only Democrats elsewhere who rage at the 
protection guaranteed by the President under the law. 

The practical terrorism over the colored vote is shown in Georgia. The Demo- 
crats have lately carried the State by 80,000, or more, majority. They might as well 
have carried it unanimously, and by the same general means. In 1870 Georgia had 
237,627 legal voters. There was a white majority of but a little more than 21,000. 
A certain number of these are fairly to be called Republicans, and the colored vote is 
naturally chiefly Republican. In 1872 the Democrats carried the State by less than 
ig, 000 majority. Where are the Republican voters this year? "Why is it," asks 
the Bufifalo Comtnercial Advertiser, " that in a State with 240,000 legal voters, the 
Democrats can win a majority of about 80,000 on a vote of only 100,000 ? " The 
answer is very short and simple : the shotgun. The colored Republican voter in 
Georgia is terrorized. Georgia will give perhaps 100,000 majority for " Tilden and 
Reform." When the same result is accomplished in every Southern State, when the 
Southern vote is solid and its Congressional representation is solid, if the Admin- 
istration should be Democratic also, the work of the war would be virtually undone. 



The following letter, from Hon. B. Odell Duncan, United 
States Consul in Naples, Italy, was also published in the latter 
part of October. Being a South Carolinian, he understood ac- 
curately the motives and influences that were controlling, and the 
methods to which resort would be had : 

Naples, October 8, 1876. 
My Dear Governor : — Affairs in South Carolina have not taken the conciliatory 
turn you and I hoped for when we parted. The Democratic Convention did not 



420 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

sliow that moderation and wisdom which the situation so manifestly required, and 
which the better elements of both parties wished for. On the contrary, it took the 
very course that its own most sagacious leaders both publicly and privately con- 
demned. In the nomination of Hampton, the most violent element of the party 
triumphed over those who were in favor of moderation and prudence. The Butlers 
and Garys, and all those under indictment for riot and murder come to the front, and 
the George W. Williamses, the Judge Mahers, the Campbells, the McGowans, the 
Kershaws, etc., etc., the better and more substantial elements of the party, are 
pushed into the background. The News and Ci3?/r?Vr makes another of its "lofty 
tumbles " and vibrates from the extreme of moderation and good sense to the extreme 
of violence and madness. It cannot find language strong enough to condemn the Re- 
publicans for going armed to public meetings of their own ; but it is all right for 
Democrats to go mounted and armed, cap-a-pie, not to their own, but to trespass on 
Republican meetings, and not for the purpose of free and fair discussion, but to en- 
able them to indulge in bitter personal abuse of their opponents. I refer specially to 
Gary's attack on you at Edgefield. 

The natural, indeed the inevitable consequence of the action of the Democratic 
party we are now witnessing. A state of uneasiness exists all over the State. Vio- 
lence and riot and bloodshed are of frequent occurrence. The moderate men of six 
weeks ago are forced along with the current to avoid snspicion and social ostracism, 
if not actual danger. 

Extreme men and extreme measures on the one side have, as was to be expected, 
caused the same on the other. So we are not surprised to hear of the supremacy of 
the worse elements of the Radical party at its conventions. 

But the one redeeming feature of the Convention was your renomination, and for 
that it cannot claim any special credit, as it was forced to do so by public opinion of 
the North and to have any hope of success. But, nevertheless, I congratulate you 
on your success, and especially do I congratulate the State on the prospect of having 
you for Governor another term. 

Of the chances of your election of course I cannot judge so well at this distance. 
Were I to credit the News and Cotirier, I could entertain no hope. But I know too 
well the character of our papers to trust all they say about elections. These numer- 
ous colored clubs, I take it, are rather myths than realities. A course of conciliation 
on the part of the Democrats towards the colored people would, in my judgment, be 
much more successful then these mounted and armed parades all over the State, and 
such a policy I could heartily endorse. But of course their policy is to intimidate, 
and not to conciliate. That was the prime object of the Hamburg massacre, and 
that is the object of all this semi-military display. In this they may possibly be suc- 
cessful, the colored people being in general a timid race. Here there arises the ne- 
cessity for what I must strongly deprecate in principle, that is the presence of the 
United States troops, and if they should be used at all I hope it will be simply to 
preserve order and to enable every one, white and colored, to vote freely and as he 
desires, not to intimidate either side. If we can have a fair and orderly election, 
I entertain no doubt you will be re-elected, and with a handsome majority. Nor do 
I believe that you will only get Radical votes, for, notwithstanding the excitement, 
and pressure, and social ostracism, I still believe that some Democrats, who assured 
me they would vote for you if a candidate in preference to anybody else, will have 



A DM IN IS TEA TION. 42 1 

the courage and manliness to do so. Your success I should regard as the triumph of 
law, order, moderation, conciliation ; Hampton's as the triumph of violence, of op- 
pression, and the virtual disfranchisement of a race. I also hope the Legislature 
elected will be such that a good working majority of Democrats and honest Republi- 
cans may be formed to support you in your reform measures. . . . 

Hoping that no very serious disturbance may occur during the campaign in South 

Carolina, I remain, very truly yours, 

B. O. DUNCAN. 



The incident of the campaign narrated in the following extract 
from the Columbia Union-Herald has pecidiar interest 

Hon. A. G. Magrath and General W. F. De Saussure called yesterday upon Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain to represent the necessity for the presence of some United States 
troops at certain points in Charleston County. They asked his cooperation in an ap- 
plication to be made to General Ruger to that end. The delegation told the Governor 
that the white population outside of the city were alarmed at certain reports of ill- 
feeling towards them manifested by the negroes who are in such an immense prepon- 
derance at many points. Many families had already removed to the city, and those 
iinable to do so were in much anxiety and dread. 

To this representative delegation of Charleston Democrats the 
Governor addressed the following letter : 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, October 25th. 

Hoti. A. G. Magrath and General W. F. De Saussure, Charleston S. C. : 
Gentlemen — I had hoped after our interview this morning to have 
met you again, as I then intimated to you, in company with General 
Ruger, in order that we might confer more fully upon the matters 
which you brought to my attention. 

My views and purposes were stated to you with entire frankness in 
our interview, but I desire again to present them in writing. I am 
glad of an opportunity practically to prove that in all my relations to 
the present canvass, and especially in seeking the aid of the military 
force of the United States, I am acting in the interest of all our people, 
and for the protection in all their rights of the Democrats as well as 
the Republicans. I expect no favor — and hardly justice — in the judg- 
ments pronounced upon me by political opponents in the heat of this 
campaign ; but you, gentlemen, know me well. You have in times past 
honored me with your confidence, and I know you will believe me when 
1 say that I am as solicitous that you and your political friends shall 
be protected by the United States troops now in the State as I am that 
my political friends shall be protected. I deplore the fears which have 
called you here. If the anxieties and distress which now afflict the 
white people of Charleston are the effect of the mad policy inaugurated 
by Democratic leaders in this State, we will not pause to discuss it. 



422 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Our common and only present duty is to strive to say peace and to 
secure peace to all our fellow-citizens. I will conferfully and promptly 
with General Ruger, as I have already promised you, and I have no 
doubt he will take such measures as will fully insure a peaceful election 
in Charleston County and ample protection to all whom you are here 
to protect. 

I beg to express my sincere gratification at the confidence you have 
manifested in bringing these matters personally to my attention, and 
to again assure you that I am, as truly now as in any other and more 
peaceful days, your friend and servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 



The following telegraphic letter, published in the New York 
Tribune of November 2, 1876, was called out by a statement 
made public by United States Senator T. F. Randolph of New 
Jersey, who visited South Carolina as one of the managers of the 
Democratic party's national campaign : 

To the Editor of the Tribune : 

Sir — Ex-Governor Randolph of New Jersey appears as the latest 
apologist of the " shotgun " Democracy of South Carolina. If I were 
to follow his example, especially if I were to speak the exact truth, I 
should pronounce his letter to the Chairman of the Democratic National 
Committee the result of gross ignorance, bitter partisanship, and wilful 
falsehood. It is difficult to deal with such a vast, chaotic mass of un- 
truths. I shall single out a few only as specimens. Governor Ran- 
dolph writes as follows : 

The Consliution of the State requires the registration of every voter. Governor 
Chamberlain has been earnestly urged to execute this constitutional provision. He 
has omitted to do so, and in many districts, especially in those where the colored 
voters are in absolute control — there is no limit to fraud. Because of this persistent 
refusal the confidence of the better class of citizens has been lost to him. 

Now mark the facts : The only constitutional provision respecting 
registration in this State is in these words : 

It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide from time to time for the 
registration of all electors. Section 3, Article VIII. 

The Governor has no power to " execute this constitutional provi- 
sion." He has therefore not " omitted " to execute it. His only jiower 
or duty is. to recommend and urge its execution. In my Inaugural 
Address, December i, 1874, in a Special Message to the General 
Assembly, January 12, 1875, and in my Annual Message, November 23, 
1875, I urged in the most earnest terms the execution of this constitu- 
tional provision. In each instance I urged this in unqualified terms, 



ADMINISTRA TION. 423 

and enforced it by special argument. These Messages are public doc- 
uments within the easy reach of Governor Randolph and his informants, 
if he or they had wished to state the truth. This is not all. There 
being no registration, all parts of the State (those where the whites' 
predominate equally with the others) are exposed to all the evils, if 
any, following from the absence of registration. The statement that I 
have " lost the confidence of the better class of citizens by my persist- 
ent refusal to enforce registration," of course now falls to the ground. 
The Charleston News and Courier, the Democratic organ of the State, 
referring in July last to my record on this subject, declared : 

In view of what Governor Chamberlain recommended where he had only the 
power to recommend, and what he did where he had the power to act, the irresistible 
conclusion is that he was as much in earnest in recommendation as in action ; and 
that in both cases, with equal earnestness, he exerted the whole power and influence 
of his office to promote the public good. 

Governor Randolph states that the three Supreme Court Judges 
and ten of the Circuit Court Judges have testified " that they are 
acquainted with no cause that warranted the issuance of the Governor's 
Proclarnation, or that of the President of the United States." I pro- 
nounce this statement to be absolutely false. No such statement has 
been made by the persons whom he names, and Governor Randolph 
has seen no such statement which was made by them. Further than 
this, I assert that in no one of the several statements made by the 
Judges of this State in respect to these matters is there one fact stated 
of their own knowledge or observation which traverses or qualifies any 
statement made by me in my Proclamation or other public statements, 
or in that of the President of the United States. This is a broad state- 
ment, but is true in every detail. 

Not one of these Judges denies my statement that I have proof of 
the existence of two hundred and thirteen rifle clubs (I now have the 
proof of the existence of more than two hundred and forty), with their 
localities and officers. Not one of them denies the facts as stated by 
me in regard to the Ellenton riot and massacre, or the assembling and 
conduct of the rifle clubs at Rouse's Bridge. Not one of them denies 
my statement that more than thirty, and probably fifty, colored Repub- 
licans were massacred, wantonly and murderously killed, between the 
1 6th and 24th of September, in the immediate vicinity of Ellenton, by 
the rifle clubs. Not one of them denies my statement that this horrible. 
Indian-like butchery was committed solely for political purposes. Not 
one of them denies my statement that these facts are now proved by 
the sworn testimony, carefully taken by the United States District At- 
torney and the Attorney General of the State, at Aiken and vicinity, 
before the United States Commissioners, of one hundred and thirty 
witnesses who saw the transactions to which they testify. Not one of 
the Judges denies my statement that this violence and insurrection far 
exceeded the power of the State Government to suppress. 

Equally infamous and false are the statements made by Governor 



424 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Randolph that I have obtained my information " alone through my own 
creatures," and that " I refuse to show the evidence on which my state- 
ments are made." Is Mr. Corbin, the United States District Attorney, 
my creature ? Are the United States Commissioners my creatures ? 
Are Capt. Mills, Capt. Lloyd, Lieut. Hinton, and other army officers at 
Aiken, my creatures ? Are the one hundred and thirty witnesses, 
whom I never saw and do not know, my creatures ? Governor Ran- 
dolph did not apply to me for information. He spent his time exclu- 
sively with those who knew no facts respecting these matters, or who 
were, like him, determined to suppress and deny them. His mission 
here was doubtless well stated to me to-day by a Democrat of this city: 
"Randolph came here to keep the bit in our mouths till election day." 

Look also at Governor Randolph's statements respecting my action 
in appointing the Boards of Election Commissioners of the several 
counties. He asserts that " by public proclamation I invited the two 
political Committees to designate their choice " ; that I " announced 
that no candidate for office would be appointed by me " ; that " the 
persons named by the Democratic Committee were not generally ap- 
pointed " ; and that " of the Republican Commissioners selected by 
the Governor, in nearly every instance the appointee is a Republican 
officeholder or a candidate for office at the coming election." 

Having plenary power to appoint whomsoever I choose, I publicly 
announced that " as a general rule," I should appoint one Democrat 
and two Republicans on each of these boards, and I invited " sugges- 
tions and recommendations as to these appointments from both politi- 
cal parties." I also announced that if any of the persons appointed 
by me in the first instance should thereafter become candidates for 
office, I should " feel warranted in making removals for this cause." 
Now what have I done ? I have appointed an unquestionable Demo- 
crat, a supporter of Wade Hampton, on every Board of Election Com- 
missioners throughout the State. I have never appointed from my own 
party a candidate for office, and whenever any Commissioner appointed 
by me has subsequently become a candidate for office, I have ap- 
pointed in his place one who is not a candidate. Thus, while no jus- 
tice, mercy, or decency has been shown to me by my opponents in this 
campaign, I challenge the naming of a single official act of mine con- 
nected with the canvass or election which has not been fair and im- 
partial. 

The statements of Governor Randolph respecting Mr. Hagood, the 
Clerk of the United States Circuit Court, and Mr. Poinier, the United 
States Chief Supervisor of Elections, are bald misrepresentations and 
travesties of their views and statements. Both these gentlemen are 
my warm political supporters, and both unequivocally commend and 
applaud my recent action in suppressing domestic violence and insur- 
rection in the State. 

Governor Randolph's statement to the effect that all Republican 
Judges and many other leading Republicans have deserted me in the 
canvass are likewise false. Of the ten Republican Judges in the 



A DM IN IS TEA TION. 425 

State, six are now my supporters ; and of the remainder, only two are 
opposing me. Of other leading and conscientious Republicans, I assert 
that I know of no one who does not now support me or who does not 
especially approve my recent conduct. Conspicuous among these lat- 
ter are the Hon. Reuben Tomlinson, the Hon. D. T. Corbin, W. E. 
Earle, and the Hon. William Stone, all gentlemen of the highest repu- 
tation and character here and abroad. 

Governor Randolph is equally unfortunate in his efforts to ascribe 
my recent action to aspirations for the United States Senatorship. If 
he had sought the truth he would have known that at the outset of my 
candidacy for the Governorship I publicly announced that if elected I 
should under no circumstances be a candidate for Senator, an announce- 
ment published conspicuously by the Charleston Ne%vs and Courier 
and used by that Democratic organ as a ground for advocating my 
support by the Democratic party of the State. 

Enough has now been presented to show the character of Governor 
Randolph's letter. Many of the matters referred to have no interest 
to the public outside of South Carolina, except as they affect the great 
question of the necessity of my recent action in respect to the domes- 
tic violence and insurrection which I have declared to exist here. 
Upon that question evidences accumulate each day and hour which 
would appal the stoutest and hardest heart. New murders come to 
light. New atrocities are revealed. The evidences of a conspiracy to 
disfranchise a race and crush by brute force a whole people multiply 
with each step of investigation. Governor Randolph consign^ me to a 
"wretched fate, whether elected or defeated." I accept the full re- 
sponsibility of all my acts, and I await with confidence the verdict 
which just men will render upon my efforts to discharge duties as diffi- 
cult and trying as have fallen to the lot of any American Governor. I 
certainly do not envy the fate which will overtake the man who has 
come here for purely partisan ends to gather slanders to heap upon 
me and the people whom I am struggling to protect and defend. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 
Governor of South Carolina. 
Columbia, S. C, Nov. i, 1876. 



In a political speech at Massillon, Ohio, Hon. Carl Schurz 
made the following reference to the condition of -things in South 
Carolina : 

That there is a Republican Administration in South Carolina nobody doubts. At 
the head of the Republican Administration stands now a true reform Governor, Mr. 
Chamberlain, who has already accomplished much to relieve the people of that State 
of the evils they justly complained of. If it was reform the white people of that 
State wanted for its own sake, the best course of the better class naturally suggested 
itself. It was to stand by Governor Chamberlain, and thus to effect the desired re- 
form without subverting or endangering the rights of any one, by means of a most. 



426 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

peaceful character, without any resort to force of arms. Instead of that they have 
opposed to him an extreme partisan nomination. We learn, not through the usual 
channel of sensational reports, but from reliable authority, — and I may say that I have 
never been the most credulous of men when Southern outrages are spoken of, — that 
all sorts of threatening demonstrations are resorted to to overawe and interrupt the 
discussion of public affairs in Republican meetings, or to make it wholly impossible, 
and also to impress Republican voters with a sense of personal danger in case they 
vote the Republican ticket. When such things occur — and unfortunately we can no 
longer doubt that they do occur — nobody must be surprised if in the North the cry 
for free speech rises up again, \\hich never fails to make an impression upon the pop- 
ular mind. 

The following proclamation, issued a week before the election, 
is a part of the record of this extraordinary campaign. 

PROCLAMATION. 

State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber. 

In pursuance of Chapter 8 of the General Statutes of the State of 
South Carolina, amended by an Act approved March 12, 1872, an Act 
approved March 19, 1874, an election will be held in the several coun- 
ties in this State on Tuesday, the 7th day of November, eighteen hun- 
dred and seventy-six, for the following State, Legislative, Circuit, 
County, and Congressional officers, to serve for the next two and four 
years, as provided by the State Constitution, the Statutes of the State, 
and the Acts of the Congress of the United States, to wit : Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller General, State 
Treasurer, Attorney General, State Superintendent of Education, Adju- 
tant and Inspector General, Circuit Solicitors, members of the General 
Assembly, Sheriffs, Clerks of Court, Judges of Probate, School Com- 
missioners, County Commissioners, Coroners in the several counties, 
together with one Representative to the Forty-Fourth Congress from 
the Second Congressional District, and one Representative to the Forty- 
Fifth Congress from each Congressional District in the State. 

At the said election the following Amendment to the State Constitu- 
tion will be submitted to the voters of the State, for ratification or 
rejection, to wit : 

Tliat Section 5, Article ro, be amended so as to read as follows : 

Section 5. The Boards of County Commissioners of the several counties shall 
levy an annual tax of not less than two mills on the dollar upon all taxable property 
in their respective counties, which levy shall not be increased, unless by special en- 
actment of the General Assembly, for the support of public schools in their respective 
counties, which tax shall be collected at the same time and by the same officers as the 
other taxes for the same year, and shall be held in the county treasuries of the respec- 
tive counties, and paid out exclusively for the support of public schools as provided 
by law. There shall be assessed on all taxable polls in the State an annual tax of one 
■dollar on each poll, the proceeds of which tax shall be applied solely to educational 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



427 



purposes : Provided, That no person shall ever be deprived of the right of suffrage 
for non-payment of said tax. No other poll or capitation tax shall be levied in the 
State, nor shall the amount assessed on each poll exceed the limit given in this section. 
The school tax shall be distributed among the several school districts in the counties 
in proportion to the respective number of pupils attending the public schools. No 
religious sect or sects shall have exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the 
school fund of the State, nor shall sectarian principles be taught in the school. 

The manner of voting on this Amendment shall be as follows : 
Those in favor of the Amendment shall deposit a ballot with the follow- 
ing words written or printed thereon : " Constitutional Amendment — 
Yes." Those opposed to said Amendment shall cast a ballot with the 
words thereon : " Constitutional Amendment — No.'' 

All barrooms and drinking saloons shall be closed on the day of 
election, and any person who shall sell any intoxicating drinks on that 
day shall be, under the law, deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on 
conviction thereof will be fined in a sum not less than one hundred 
dollars, or be imprisoned for a period not less than one nor more than 
six months. 

The Commissioners and Managers of Election, all and each of them, 
are hereby required, with strict regard to the provisions of the Consti- 
tution and laws of the State, touching their duty in such cases, to cause 
such elections to be held in their respective counties on the day afore- 
said, and to take all necessary steps for holding of such elections, and 
for the ascertaining and determining of the persons who shall have 
been duly elected thereat, according to the rules, principles, and pro- 
visions prescribed by the Act and the Amendment to the Act aforesaid. 

In testimony whereof 1 have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
Great Seal of the State to be affixed, at Columbia, this first day 
[l. s.] of November, a.d. 1876, and in the one hundred and first year 
of American Independence. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

By the Governor : 

H. E. Hayne, Secretary of State. 




CHAPTER XXV. 

The Election on November 7th Accomplished without Bloodshed — Excitement Re- 
garding the Result — Democrats Apply to the Supreme Court of the State for an 
Injunction Preventing the Board of State Canvassers from Perfonning the Duty 
Enjoined by Law — Protracted and Strange Proceedings of the Court — The Board 
Does Its Work and Adjourns Sine Die before an Injunction is Served — Anger of 
the Democrats — The Elections in Edgefield and Laurens Counties Invalidateil 
by Frauds — Orders of the President and Secretary of War to General Ruger — 
Meeting of the Legislature — Both Branches Organized by the Republicans — The 
Democrats Withdraw from the Hbuse of Representatives — Interview with the 
Governor — His Despatch to the President — Democrats Force an Entrance into 
the Legislative Chamber — General Ruger's Action Criticised — His Report to 
General Sherman — Governor Chamberlain's Telegraphic Letter to the New York 
Tribune Specifically Contradicting Misstatements by General J. B. Gordon 
and Others — The Vote for Governor Canvassed — Governor Chamberlain's Ma- 
jority 3,145. 



THE election of President of the United States and that of 
State officers occurred on the same day, November 7, 
1876. Fortunately the day passed without any serious outbreak 
of violence, a result to which the presence of the United States 
troops undoubtedly contributed, if it did not alone secure it. No 
troops were at or near the polls anywhere, but by Colonel Ruger, 
the officer in command, the small force was so disposed as to be 
available for the suppression of a riot in the sections where an 
outbreak was most feared. Moreover the consciousness that 
actual violence would certainly provoke, in the judgment of the 
nation, unfavorable prejudices against the party responsible for it, 
may be presumed to have had a restraining influence. Reliance 
was placed by the Democrats on the efficiency of the work of 
intimidation and proscription which had been done, and on the 
effect of repeating and other fraudulent voting. But the voting 
itself was accomplished without bloodshed. At every voting 
place there were, by Governor Chamberlain's appointment, two 
Republicans and one Democrat as Inspectors, and no question 
"■ — 428 



ADMINISTRA TION. 429 

was ever raised regarding the accuracy of the return of the vote 
actually cast, where the return was certified by all the Inspectors. 

By law, the returns from the whole State were required to be 
canvassed, and the result disclosed, by a Board of State Canvass- 
ers, composed of the State Treasurer, the Comptroller, the Secre- 
tary of State, the Adjutant General, and the Attorney General. 
It had judicia l— powers— to hear protests and determine the 
legality of the election in respect of all candidates except Gov- 
ernor and Lieutenant Governor, the vote for whom was required^ 
to be canvassed by the General Assembly after its organization. 
The Board of State Canvassers was required by law to meet on 
the third day after the election and to conclude its work within 
ten days. 

The returns came in slowly. Meantime the concern and ex- 
citement, both within the State and without, increased to an 
alarming degree. The whole country was agitated on account of 
the doubtful issue of the contest for President, making the vote 
of South Carolina of great moment ; but the leaders of the 
Democratic party in the State were comparatively indifferent to 
this matter, being so much more concerned regarding their per- 
sonal fortunes and the success of the plan of campaign they had 
prosecuted by such lawless and desperate expedients. The city 
of Columbia straightway became a camp of rifle clubs, marched 
there from all sections of the State to make sure of the results 
they desired. There is no reason to doubt that, but for the 
presence of the United States troops they would have taken 
possession of the State Government by violence. 

Constrained to act within the forms of law% proceedings were 
instituted by them in the Supreme Court of the State to prevent 
the Board of State Canvassers from performing the duty imposed 
by the Constitution and the law, which, without question of their 
right, its members had always heretofore performed. The Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, F. J. Moses, father of the Gov- 
ernor of that name, whose aspirations for the bench were thwarted 
by Governor Chamberlain, had been an active sympathizer with, 
and supporter of, the aims of the politicians striving to compass 
Governor Chamberlain's defeat, as had his notorious son. The 
other members were Justice Willard, a white man who was ele- 



430 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

vatcd to the place by a Republican Legislature, and had been an 
avowed supporter of Hampton in the campaign ; and Justice 
Wright, a negro of some ability, but of little or no moral courage. 
The proceedings in Court were begun before the Board of Can- 
vassers entered upon their work. The following report of the 
course and issue of this action is reproduced from a carefully pre- 
pared summary of the proceedings from authentic sources, that 
appeared in the New York Times, in the latter part of November 
previous to the meeting of the South Carolina Legislature, in 
which all the essential facts are clearly and dispassionately pre- 
sented. 

The action of the Board of State Canvassers and of the Supreme Court of South 
Carolina seems to be so much misunderstood, that it would be well to state briefly, 
from authentic sources, what were the actual proceedings in the Supreme Court and 
of the Board of State Canvassers. 

The duties and powers of the Board are those usually residing in such Boards. 
Sections 26 and 27 of an Act approved March i, 1870, are as follows : 

Section 26. The Board, when thus formed, shall, upon the certified copies of the 
statements made by the Board of County Canvassers, proceed to make a statement of 
the whole number of votes given at such election for the various officers, and for each 
of them voted for, distinguishing the several counties in which they are given. They 
shall certify such statement to be correct, and subscribe the same with their proper 
names. 

Section 27. Upon such statements they shall then proceed to determine and de- 
clare what persons have been, by the greatest number of votes, duly elected to such 
offices, or either of them : they shall have poiver, audit is made their duty, to decide 
all cases tinder protest or contest that may arise, when the poiver to do so does not, by 
the Constitution, reside in some other body. 

The exception here refers to the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, 
decision on which, in case of contest, is with the Legislature. 

On the 14th of November Mr. Youmans, for the Democrats, asked the Supreme 
Court for two writs — one of mandamus to compel the Board to perform the purely 
ministerial function "of ascertaining from the managers' [County Canvassers'] returns 
what persons have the highest number of votes, and certifying the statements thereof 
to the Secretary of State " ; and one of prohibition " from hearing any protest or con- 
test, and from exercising any judicial functions whatever touching the elections." 

The Court adjourned to the i6th to give the counsel of the Board time to answer. 

On the i6th of November the motions were argued and the Court adjourned, 

On the 17th the Court again sat, and the Chief Justice [Moses] said that "the 
Court had examined the suggestions of mandamus and those in prohibition, and be- 
fore it proceeds to final judgment it desires to save time, . . . and that the Court 
requires an order to be drawn that the Board of State Canvassers forthwith proceed to 
count and compare the returns, and make a report of the result to the Court, and cer- 
tify their action in the premises to the Court. 

Counsel on both sides then consulted as to such' an order, but failing to agree as 
to the terms, such an order was thereupon issued by the Court itself — Associate Justice 



A DMINIS TRA TIOJV. 43 r 

Wright dissenting from so much of the order as required the Board to certify their 
action in the premises to the Court. 

The order did not extend to the offices of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, 
which, it was understood, were left by law to the decision of the General Assembly. 

It will be observed that this is, so far, the only order issued, that it was under- 
stood to be intermediary, and that it leaves the original motions still undecided. 

On the 1 8th, the Board not being ready to report, further arguments were heard 
by the Court on the motions for mandamus and prohibition, and the Court adjourned 
without expressing any opinion, giving counsel on either side privilege of submitting 
written arguments before lo a.m. Monday, if they should so desire. 

Monday, November 20th, the Board not yet reporting, affidavits were presented 
to the Court by the Democratic counsel, on which they asked an order from the Court 
requiring the Board of Canvassers in reporting their action under the order of Novem- 
ber 17th, to report to the Court at the same time all errors and irregularities in the 
statements of the County Canvassers, " and to annex to their reports all official docu- 
ments and papers in their possession showing the nature and character of such errors 
and irregulcirities." 

The Democratic counsel said : " No notice had been given, and he did not suppose 
the other side would object." 

The order was so outrageous in its requirements, that Chief Justice Moses said : 
"It seems to me to be a very irregular mode of proceeding." Associate Judge Wil- 
lard said : " What responsibility are the Board under in virtue of that order? They 
are not Commissioners in equity nor Referees at law. They are not in performance 
of a power conferred upon them by this Court. It seems to me you have mistaken 
your right." The order asked for was not granted, and the Court adjourned to await 
the report of the Board. 

November 21st, on the opening of the Court, Mr. D. T. Corbin, counsel for the 
Board of State Canvassers, moved that the order of November 17th be rescinded, ar- 
guing that it was an interlocutory order, and always subject to the discretion of the 
Court ; that it was in the nature of mandamus, and that it could not be issued at that 
stage of the proceedings. During the arguments which followed, Judge Willard said : 
" / cannot see the object of asking the Court to pass upon the abstract question " [that 
of the exercise of judicial powers by the Board] " with its eyes shut y we want to know 
who received the highest number of votes." And again, later, he said : " We do not 
want to decide the abstract question of law and then have you come before us on the 
application of those questions to the facts." 

It thus appears that the relative position of the Supreme? Court and of the Board 
was this : The Supreme Court, before it would decide an abstract question of law, 
wanted to know what facts (whose election) would be affected by its decision. 

The Board wanted to know by what construction of the law it was to decide ques- 
tions of fact. 

Associate Judge Wright probed the matter to the quick when he said : " I take 
an entirely different view of the proceedings before the Court," and later on he said, 
referring to his dissent from that part of the order of the 17th of November requiring 
the Board to certify their action to the Court : "I dissented for the reason that I did 
not consider it necessary that the Court should know whether A, B, or C was elected, 
and the only question before the Court was one of law, whether the Board had the 



432 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

power to hear and determine protests and contests. To pass that part of the order I 
thought would be to turn the Court into a political machine to elect parties." 

Later in the day Mr. Corl)in sulDmitted the report of the Board of State Canvassers, 
reading only its conclusion, part of which was as follows : " This statement is made 
to the Court in obedience to its order of November 17, 1876, but it is respectfully sub- 
mitted that, under the present proceedings in this Court, this Board is not, by law, 
compelled to report any of its actions to the Court." The statement then recites cer- 
tain errors, and the results from correcting the same, and further, that allegations and 
evidences of fraud had been filed with the Board as to the elections in Edgefield, Barn- 
well, and Laurens counties. The body of the report of the Board showed that on 
the face of the returns two Democratic members of Congress would be elected, a part 
■of the Democratic State officers, and such Democratic members of the General Assem- 
bly as would give them a majority of one on joint ballot ; but it also showed that, on 
the face of the same returns, the Republican Electors of President and Vice-President 
were elected, and also some of the State officers — Elliott, Cardozo, and Hayne. 

This simple statement furnishes in part a solution to the question, which naturally 
arises, why the Court had not yet, after seven days, decided the plain question of law, 
which, as Judge Wright said, "was the only one before the Court, viz., whether the 
Board had the power to hear protests and contests," and why Democratic counsel did 
not dare to press for its decision. It is evident that a frightfully aggravating dilemma 
presented itself to the Democrats. 

The face of the returns gave the control of the State Government to the Demo- 
crats, and, notwithstanding the frauds in Edgefield and Laurens, the Electoral ticket 
to Hayes. If, on motion of Democratic counsel, the Court denied to the Board the 
power to hear protests and contests, then, though they would have gained their great 
end, the possession of the State, they would at the same time have dealt an almost 
fatal blow to the important, but to them secondary, end — the success of Tilden. 

If, on the other hand, the Court had decided that the Board had the power in ques- 
tion, they would have endangered the possession of the State, and could hardly then 
have hoped to make out a case for the rejection of the Hayes Electors, and the threats 
and intimidations of the rifle clubs, the massacres of Hamburg and EUenton would 
have been in vain. 

But, as we shall see, the effrontery of the counsel and their advisers was equal to the 
emergency, as it is an open secret that the proceedings in Court were daily transmitted 
by telegraph to New York, and the action of Democratic counsel inspired from thence. 

On the statement of the Board of State Canvassers being received, the Democratic 
counsel requested time to examine the statement and consult. They then asked the 
Court to grant two orders (one for each horn of the dilemma). The first, "that the 
Board do certify to be correct the statement of the whole number of votes for mem- 
bers of General Assembly, . . . and determine and declare what persons have 
been by the greatest number of votes elected to such offices, . . . make certifi- 
cate of their determination, and deliver it to the Secretary of State, who shall transmit 
a copy to each person declared to be elected, . . . and that they shall do the 
same in reference to members ef Congress." 

This order, if granted, would give them a Democratic Legislature, and conse- 
quently the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and two members of Congress, which 
was all they needed, and more than their most sanguine hopes had expected. 



ADMINIS TRA TION. 43 3 

The second order was the one of the previous day, now brought up again, " to 
compel the Board to surrender to the Court all official documents showing the nature 
and character of errors and irregularities." So that the Court, after by the former 
order giving them the State, might at last pass upon the original question, and so 
decide whether the Board had power to go behind the face of the returns as to the 
Republican Electors and Republican State officers. The plain meaning of these two 
orders is : 

1. We have the State Legislature ; issue the certificates and don't go behind the 
returns. 

2. We have lost the Presidential Electors and most of the State officers ; send us 
the papers, and then we will decide whether you shall go behind the returns or not. 

When the Court entertained such motions it already indicated what answer it 
would give, but it at least preserved the faint show of dignity by not granting the 
orders at once, and adjourned after long arguments. 

But delay was all in favor of the Democrats. It was well known to all concerned 
that the statute defining the powers and duties of the Board limited their sitting to ten 
days. This period expired about noon the next day. If the Board had not fulfilled 
its duties by that time, and certified its determination and made certificate of election 
according to the statute, it would no longer have had legal existence — would have 
been incompetent to perform a single function, could not have given validity to any 
certificate, and would not, as a Board, be longer amenable to judicial control. 

What would have been the inevitable result ? The Supreme Court, the only legally 
constituted body in possession of the records of the election, though illegally wrung 
from the Board, would have assumed, with alacrity, the responsibility of declaring the 
result of the election. Was not the accomplishment of this desirable end the object 
of the deliberate policy of the Democrats, and would not its success have been a source 
of the gravest peril to the Republicans ? 

We now come to the 22d November — the last eventful day. The Board of State 
Canvassers, having obeyed the only mandate of the Supreme Court addressed to them, 
in full view of the plain requirements of the statute, with but a few hours left them of 
legal existence, and being without further express instructions or orders of the Court, 
met at 10 A.M. to complete their duties. Their minutes show : 

That they corrected the errors referred to in their statement to the Court, namely, 
counting the votes cast for F. C. Dunn as Comptroller General and John B. Tolbert 
as Superintendent of Education, for T. C. Dunn and John R. Tolbert, respectively, 
for said offices. 

The following certificates and determination of the Board were submitted and 
adopted : [Here follow the certificates as to Presidential Electors and State Congres- 
sional, Circuit, and County officers]. 

On the question as to whether the statement of the County Canvassers of Edgefield 
and Laurens counties should be included in the statement and determination of the 
Board, the majority voted in the negative. The Board then adjourned sine die — 
about I P.M. 

In the meantime the Supreme Court, having dallied with the main question of law 
until within a few hours of the determination of the Board's legal existence, met at 
II A.M. and granted the principal part of the order asked on the previous day, viz.: 
That a writ of peremptory mandamus do issue, directed to the Board of State Can- 



434 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

vassers and the Secretary of State, commanding them to forthwith declare duly elected, 
and to issue certificates to the persons who received the greatest number of votes for 
the offices of Senators and members of the House of Representatives (State). 

There is so far no evidence that the members of the Board, individually or in their 
collective capacity, had any knowledge of this writ until after their adjournment sine 
die. 

The Court, after a short recess to give Democratic counsel opportunity to amend 
or divide their second order of the previous day, met at i p.m., and then on very 
lengthy affidavits and motions (or suggestions) presented by counsel, reciting "the 
irregularities in certain counties as to Presidential Electors, and neglect or failure to 
act on the part of the Board, and asking that the Board shall proceed according to law 
and submit to the Court their report, and that the Board .shall bring into Court all offi- 
cial papers and documents, etc.," the Court ordered that a rule do issue requiring the 
Board of State Canvassers to show cause on Friday, the 24th (two days after the time 
when the Board would cease to exist), why a writ of mandamus should not issue in 
accordance with the prayer of the said suggestion. 

The Court then took up other business. 

The wrath of the Court and the Democrats when they discov- 
ered that the Board of State Canvassers had performed its duty 
.and terminated its legal existence while yet uninformed of the 
ultimate decision of the perplexed and procrastinating Court, is 
indescribable. The Court avenged itself for its mortification by 
consigning all the members of the Board to prison for contempt, 
the contempt consisting in having obeyed the Constitution and 
laws in the absence of any order communicated to them enjoining 
them from the performance of their duty in their own discretion. 
The anger of the Democrats was hardly restrained within bounds 
by the earnest efforts of leaders who realized the importance of 
keeping the peace. Their spirit and conduct plainly indicated 
that the action of the Board had defeated some cherished scheme, 
and it was quickly and probably accurately judged that the real 
motive of the long delays and peculiar orders of the Court was to 
secure that no determination could be reached by the Board 
within the period of ten days prescribed by law ; when the Court 
would have decided that its members were without power to act 
further, and would assume the duty of canvassing the returns 
itself, in which case, undoubtedly, they would have been revised 
in a manner to elect the entire Democratic State ticket, with a 
majority of the Legislature, and also the Democratic candidates 
for Presidential Electors. That plot, if it existed, was effectively 
foiled. 



A DMINIS TEA TION. 43 5 

The declaration of the Board of Canvassers that the irregular- 
ities and frauds in Edgefield and Laurens counties had been such 
that they were unable to determine who had been chosen to the 
Legislature, was equivalent to a declaration that the election in 
those counties was void, and left them without representation. 
Certificates were issued by the Secretary of State to all others 
who appeared on the face of the returns made by the County 
Canvassers to be elected, although there were other counties 
from which protests had been received that were worthy of con- 
sideration, and, under other circumstances, would have been con- 
sidered. Owing to the harassment to which the Board was 
subjected, and the excitement prevailing, no attempt was made 
to consider the large number of cases involving the legality of the 
voting at district polling places. 

Two days before the date of the meeting of the Legislature 
the following instructions were sent to General Ruger, command- 
ing the United States troops in South Carolina : 

Washington, November 26, 1876. 
Gen. Thomas H. Rugcr, or Col. H. M. Black, Columbia, S. C. : 
The following has been received from the President : 

Executive Mansion, November 26, 1876. 
Hon. J. D. Cameron, Secretary of War : 

Sir — D. H. Chamberlain is now Governor of the State of South Carolina beyond 
any controversy, and remains so until a new Governor shall be duly and legally 
inaugurated under the Constitution. The Government has been called upon to aid 
with the military and naval forces of the United States to maintain republican gov- 
ernment in the State against resistance too formidable to be overcome by the State 
authorities. You are directed, therefore, to sustain Governor Chamberlain in his 
authority against domestic violence until otherwise directed. 

U. S. GRANT, 

In obeying these instructions you will advise with the Governor, and dispose your 
troops in such a manner as may be deemed best in order to carry out the spirit of the 
above order of the President. Acknowledge receipt. 

J. D. CAMERON, 

Secretary of War. 

For some days before the meeting of the Legislature the 
Democrats in Columbia were expressing confidence that they 
would control the organization and obtain immediate possession 
of all departments of the State Government. They asserted 
that more than enough Republicans would be absent to give 



43 6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

them a majority, and that the Democrats from Edgefield and 
Laurens would be admitted at once. If the Republicans were 
not all there, then the excluded members would demand to have 
their names called, and would enforce the demand. A Demo- 
cratic Speaker would be elected, and the Legislature would 
declare the election of Hampton, who would be inaugurated 
forthwith, although it had been usual to inaugurate the Governor 
on the Thursday after the meeting of the Legislature. 

Certificates of election to the House of Representatives had 
been issued by the Secretary of State to fifty-nine Republicans and 
fifty-seven Democrats, leaving eight vacancies,— the number of the 
members to which the counties of Edgefield and Laurens, whose 
elections had been declared null, were entitled. The Senate, with 
two vacancies, had a Republican majority of five. 

The Legislature met on Tuesday, the 28th of November. 
The following special despatch to the New York Times gives an 
account of the proceedings, which were attended by much con- 
fusion, at times threatening to culminate in riot, especially in the 
House of Representatives: 

Columbia S. C, November 28th. 

Last night a company of United States troops took charge of the Capitol. The 
streets had been full of rumors, and threats that the roughs in the city from almost 
every county in the State would take possession of the corridors, and prevent the Re- 
publican members of the House from entering the chamber until an organization was 
effected by the Democrats. The Republicans, and especially the colored men, were 
excited and alarmed, and had begun to gather in some places near the Statehouse. 
The inflammability of the community was apparent to every observer. White men in 
red shirts swaggered in the streets of the town, displaying their revolvers, while there 
were some colored men talking wildly. No local authority would have been of the 
least use in quelling the riot, if one had started. It was in the interests of peace and 
order, and as a purely preventive measure, that General Ruger, at the request of the 
Governor, sent a small force to the Statehouse. All well-disposed persons are glad to 
feel safer because of their presence. 

Both houses of the Legislature met at 12 noon. The Democratic members marched 
down to the Statehouse by twos, with Gen. Wade Hampton and the Chairman of the 
Democratic Executive Committee bringing up the rear. The persons claiming to 
have been elected from Edgefield and LaufenTcoiuities were refused admission to the 
hall, whereupon one of the Edgefield members read the following protest : 

Columbia, November 28th. 
We, a majority of the House of Representatives elect, protest against the refusal 
to admit us to the Hall of Representatives. We protest against the military power of 
the United States barring the passage into the Statehouse of members-elect of the 



ADMINISTRA TION. 437 

Legislature. We protest against the legality of the proceedings, and especially against 
the Army of the United States being placed for the purpose of this exclusion under 
the command of John B. Dennis, a partisan of Governor Chamberlain. We protest 
against the said Dennis' instructions to the guard to admit no one to the Statehouse 
except upon his own pass or a pass of A. O. Jones, the former Clerk of the House, 
who may thus exclude all except his own partisans, and who, by the Republican pro- 
gramme, is to organize the said House. 

We have presented ourselves with the judgment of the highest Court of South 
Carolina, certified to by its Clerk, with the great seal of the Court attached. As to 
our right to participate in the organization of the said House, we are refused, by the 
orders of the said Dennis, admission to said hall except upon his pass, the pass of said 
Jones, or the certificate of H. E. Hayne, Secretary of State, who is now under con- 
demnation of said Court for refusal to issue certificates in accordance with its judg- 
ment and mandate. 

In protesting against this barefaced usurpation, this trampling on the laws and 
Constitution of the State, this defiance of the highest tribunal of the State, it is our 
purpose to offer no resistance to this armed intervention, but to make our solemn ap- 
peal to the American people, without distinction of party. Our veneration for law, 
our respect for the Supreme Court and the usages of all legislative assemblages, forbid 
our participation in such unprecedented and revolutionary proceedings. 

[Signed by all the Democratic members, sixty-four in number.]' 

During the excitement an immense crowd had assembled in front of the Statehouse, 
when the Federal officer in charge approached General Hampton, who was in the 
Statehouse, with a request to prevent the crowd from pushing in. General Hampton 
immediately appeared upon the front steps of the Capitol, and addressed the crowd as 
follows : 

My Friends : — I am truly doing what I have done earnestly during this whole 
exciting Contest, pouring oil on the troubled waters. It is of the greatest importance 
to us all, as citizens of South Carolina, that peace should be preserved. I appeal to 
you all, white men and colored, as Carolinians, to use every effort to keep down vio- 
lence or turbulence. One act of violence may precipitate bloodshed and desolation. 
I implore you, then, to preserve the peace. I beg all of my friends to disperse, to 
leave the grounds of the Capitol, and I advise all the colored men to do the same. 
Keep perfectly quiet, leave the streets, and do nothing to provoke a riot. We trust 
to the law and the Constitution, and we have perfect faith in the justness of our 
cause. 

The Democratic members, with one exception, then withdrew to the rifle com- 
pany's hall, and organized as a House of Representatives. The Republican mem- 
bers entered the hall in the Statehouse, and at the hour of 12 the Clerk called the 
roll, omitting Edgefield and Laurens counties. General Wallace, of Union, a Demo- 
crat, was present, but refused to vote. Hon. E. W. M. Mackey, of Charleston, was 
elected Speaker, and A. O. Jones, Clerk. The other officers were elected, and the 
Senate was informed that the House was duly organized. In reply to a question from a 
member, the Speaker informed the House that there were sixty members present, and 
that it was a constitutional majority of all the members elected, as the Board of Can- 
vassers had declared that no valid election had occurred in Laurens and Edgefield 
counties ; consequently the full House now consisted of only 116 members, instead 
of 124. 

The Senate organized at once, with Lieutenant Governor Gleaves in the chair, and 
every member present. The Democrats took no active part in the business. The 
Senators from Edgefield and Laurens were in their seats, but were not recognized and 

' Including those claiming election from Edgefield and Laurens. 



438 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

did not vole. Tlie Senate elected S. A. Svvails President pro tern. Protests were 
made against tlie members from Aiken and Barnwell, on the ground that they were 
elected by force and fraud. There was perfect order and apparent good-humor on all 
sides in the Senate. Both houses adjourned until lo to-morrow. 

The city is full of men but all is quiet so far. A company of troops remain in the 
Capitol to-night. 

The returns of the Governor's election will be sent to the House promptly to- 
morrow. It is thought that the regular House will declare Chamberlain elected, and 
the Democratic House Hampton, while the Senate is expected to recognize Cham- 
berlain. 

To-night the Democrats held a mass-meeting in front of the Wheeler House, 
which was addressed by General Gary and Judge Mackey. The proceedings of the 
Republicans, and especially the use made of the United States troops, were bitterly 
denounced. There seems to be no danger of trouble to-night. The barrooms are 
closed, and the leading Democrats seem to be disposed to quiet the turbulent 
.members of their party. A cold rain helps to keep the peace. The programme for 
to-morrow on the part of the Democrats is unknown, save by rumor. It is certainly 
their intention to keep up a House of their own, and to trust to accidents. They are 
using every art of threat and bribery to seduce some Republicans to their side. 

The Democratic members fitted up Carolina Plall, and held a secret caucus 
to-night. 

They fully organized by the election of General W. H. Wallace, of Union, as 
Speaker. Sixty-six members are said to have been present, including two Republi- 
cans, who joined in the organization of the Republican House this morning, and the 
eight members from the excluded counties. It is said that if they get a clear majority, 
without counting the Edgefield and Laurens men, they will go to the Statehouse 
in the morning, and join in the joint Assembly to count the vote for Governor. 

The same despatch contained the following report of an inter- 
view with the Governor regarding the events of the day: 

I saw Governor Chamberlain to-night, and said, "What do you think of the 
situation ? " 

"I think [said he] the result of the events here to-day is very favorable to the 
cause of Republicanism and public justice. In the first place, the United States troops 
have performed their proper functions in preserving the peace and maintaining an 
attitude of perfect neutrality between the two parties. The effect of their presence 
has, of course, been favorable to the Republicans, because the chief reliance of the 
Democrats has been, and is now, in overawing the Republicans, or by some violent 
means preventing them from securing their rights. I know of no act done by the 
military forces to-day which has abridged or denied any right of a Democrat." 
" What is your opinion of the organization of the House ?" 

Governor Chamberlain — " I think the House, as at present organized, is as valid 
a legislative body as there is in America. Why is it not ? Every man who held a 
credential entitling him to a seat would have been admitted without question, and out 
of the one hundred and sixteen members elected, sixty were present, answered to the 
call of the Clerk, and fifty-nine of these voted for Speaker. The language of the Con- 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 439 

stitution of South Carolina upon the subject of a legislative quorum is absolutely identi- 
cal with that of the Constitution of the United States : ' A majority of each House 
shall constitute a quorum to do business.' The great congressional precedent of 
1861, as stated in ' Barclay's Digest,' is to the effect that a quorum consists of a major- 
ity of all the members chosen. It is plain, therefore, that the House of Representa- 
tives has been organized in a perfectly lawful and constitutional manner. As to the 
Senate there is no question. , The Democrats have remained and taken part in its 
organization, and that body has exchanged messages with the House of Representa- 
tives. Thus, you see, we have a House and Senate in working order. No arbitrary 
or unlawful step has been taken." 

" Do you expect to be sustained at Washington ? " 

Governor Chamberlain — " As to that, I can only say that I do expect to be sus- 
tained at Washington if I stand on the law and the facts of the case, and upon no other 
condition. If I am the lawful Governor of the State, President Grant will sustain me, 
and I shall never ask him to do more than that. I propose, from beginning to end, to 
put my case, and that of the Republican party, upon strict law and actual facts. I 
shall attempt no usurpation, and I want none attempted for me." 

That evening the Governor sent the following despatch to the 
President : 

Columbia, S. C, November 28th. 

His Excellency^ U. S. Grant, President of the United States, Washington, 
D. C. : 
The House and Senate organized to-day. The Democrats, on the 
refusal to admit the members from Edgefield and Laurens counties, 
withdrew, leaving sixty members in the House, a quorum of all the 
members chosen. The House then proceeded to business. The Sen- 
ate organized without delay. General Ruger has preserved the peace, 
and acted with perfect impartiality and great good judgment. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

On the 30th of November the whole body of Democrats con- 
stituting the pretended House of Representatives marched in a 
body to the State Capitol, and effected an entrance to the hall of 
the legitimate House while the Legislature was in session, having 
previously ascertained from General Ruger that he would exercise 
no authority with reference to determining the rights of members, 
but only to preserve the peace in case of riot. How the entrance 
was effected was described in a special despatch to the New York 
Herald : 

Upon reaching the door, it was found guarded by a United States Deputy Marshal 
and the colored Republican Sergeant-at-Arms of the House. The Democratic visitors 
in front asked for admission, and were refused on the ground that none but members 



440 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

could go in. The members who were in front drew their certificates from the Secre- 
tary of State and presented them. The doorkeeper not suspecting the crisis at hand, 
the doors were opened to pass the few with papers in their hands. As soon as some 
half dozen had crossed the threshold they turned, flung open the doors, placed their 
backs against them, and in walked the entire Democratic body and took their seats. 
The doorkeeper made a desperate struggle to keep them out. 

The Speaker of the Democratic House, so called, attempted 
to take the chair. The result was a scene of noisy confusion, two 
bodies attempting to control the proceedings. Fear of interfer- 
ence by General Ruger prevented violence. The Associated 
Press despatch of the same evening contained the following 
account of proceedings subsequent to this action. 

About three o'clock this afternoon General Ruger sent his staff officer to the 
Speaker's stand, and notified Democratic Speaker Wallace that at twelve o'clock to- 
morrow the Democratic members form Edgefield would not be permitted on the floor 
of the House. Upon the receipt of that order the following letter was sent to General 
Ruger : 

General T. //. Ruger, Conivianding United States Troops in South Carolina : 

Dear Sir — We have just heard through Major McGinnis, of your staff, your order 
communicated to William Wallace, Speaker of the House of Representatives, that at 
twelve o'clock to-morrow the members elect from Edgefield would not be allowed 
upon the floor of the House. 

To say that we are surprised at such an order, after the explanations and pledges 
made by you to each one of us, is to use very mild language. When the outrage of 
Tuesday last was committed by the placing of armed sentinels at the door of the House 
of Representatives, who decided upon the admission of members to their seats, and 
when the provisions of the Constitution and the decision of the Supreme Court were 
brought to your attention, you distinctly and warmly asserted, again and again, that 
your orders were misunderstood ; that you did not intend to have sentinels at the door 
of the hall ; and that you had not and did not intend to assume to decide upon the 
legality of any man's seat, or upon his right to enter the hall. You were then reminded 
by us that your guard received instructions from one Dennis, a citizen, and partisan of 
Governor Chamtierlain, to admit parties upon his own pass or that of one Jones, and 
had, through armed forces, excluded all Democrats from the hall until the Republican 
organization was completed. 

You assured us again that such were not your orders, and were told by us that, not- 
withstanding the perpetration of this inexpressible shame upon our free institutions and 
the rights of the people, the evils could still be remedied without violence or bloodshed 
by a simple withdrawal of your guard from the doors of the hall, and that a majority 
of votes decides all questions in accordance with law and the usage of legislative bodies. 
You stated that no troops should be at the door, and that under no circumstances 
would you interfere, except there should occur a serious disturbance of the peace. 
You affirmed your determination to exercise no supervisory control whatever over the 
body or bodies claiming to be the House of Representatives. All this occurred on 
yesterday. Last night, in a later interview with Senator Gordon, you made the same 
assurances, and this morning after both bodies were assembled in the hall, you assured 
General Hampton that under no circumstances would you interfere, except to keep the 
peace. 

What now can justly measure our astonishment at the issuance of such an order as 
the one just sent by you ? There is no breach of the peace and no prospect of its dis- 



ADMINISTRATION. 441 

tuibance. You had it officially brought to your notice that absolute good humor pre- 
vails in that hall. We cannot refraui from expressing the apprehension that the fact 
that a number of leading Republicans are taking issue with the legality of the proceed- 
ings of the Republican House has changed your views as to your line of duty. It is 
proper that we should say, in conclusion, that we relied upon your honor as a man 
and your character as a soldier to maintain your pledged position of non-intervention. 
The Democratic members from Edgefield and Laurens are entitled to their seats 
by the judgment of the Supreme Court of this State, and we have advised them to 
remain in that hall until removed by your troops, that the issue may be made in this 
centennial year of American independence whether we have a Government of law as 
construed by Courts, or a centralized despotism whose only law is force. Let the 
American people behold the spectacle of a Brigadier General of the Army seated by 
the side of Governor Chamberlain in a room in the Statehouse, and issuing his orders to 
a legislative body peacefully assembled in one of the original thirteen commonwealths 
of this Union. 

Respectfully yours, 

J. B. GORDON,! 
WADE HAMPTON, 
A. C. HASKELL, 
Columbia, S. C, November 30, 1876. 

General Ruger explained his action in the following despatch : 

Columbia, December i, 1S76. 
Gen. W. T. Sherman, or the Secretary of War, Washington, D. C: 

I have carefully abstained from interference with the organization of the House 
from the first. On the application of the Governor, and my own belief for the neces- 
sity therefor for the preservation of the peace, I placed troops in the Statehouse (but 
not in the rooms of assembly of either of the Houses) on the day of meeting. It came 
about that for a time soldiers were placed on either side of the door of entrance to the 
Hall of Representatives under the following circumstances : A person at the door 
of the House, and who claimed authority to examine the certificates of those claiming 
to be members prior to their admission to the hall, but who, I think, had no legal au- 
thority for so doing, applied to the ofiicer in command of the troops placed in the cor- 
ridor for the preservation of the peace, for assistance, on the ground that he was be- 
ing pressed upon and could not perform his duty. The soldiers were placed as stated. 
As soon as I was fully informed of the circumstances, I ordered the soldiers with- 
drawn. As I had previously informed Gov. Chamberlain that I should confine my 
action to the preservation of the peace, and should do nothing with reference to keep- 
ing the doors of the rooms of meeting of the Houses, or the rooms themselves, unless 
it became necessary because of a breach of the peace which the civil officers of the 
Houses should be unable to quell. No act was done by the soldiers except that of 
their presence, as stated, but while they were so present, persons claiming the right 
of entrance under certificate of the Clerk of the Supreme Court were refused 
admission. 

THOMAS H. RUGER, 

Commanding Department. 

General J. B. Gordon, of Georgia, and other prominent Demo- 
crats from Southern States and Northern States, representing Mr. 

' Of Georgia, United States Senator. 



442 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Tilden and the Democratic party, were in Columbia advising with 
General Hampton and his supporters, and sending abroad daily- 
bulletins giving partial and perversive accounts of the situation, 
shrewdly adapted to befog and perplex public sentiment regard- 
ing the course of events and current phases of the contest. To 
some of these misleading representations Governor Chamberlain, 
who, in the complications thickening about him, had need to be 
" well-eyed as Argus was," replied in the following telegraphic 
letter to the New York Tribune, published December 5th: 

To the Editor of the Tribune : 

The zealous and heroic despatches with which Senator Gordon and 
other persons, who have suddenly landed here with their carpet-bags to 
take charge of South Carolina, are flooding the country, make it proper 
that I should give an exact and faithful statement of the facts. 

Eirst : It is not true, as charged, that the United States army ofificers 
have assumed any duties here without being properly called upon td 
do so. The orders of the President to the commanding officers here, 
dated November 25th, are well known. Acting in view of those orders, 
I called upon Col. Black on Monday, the 27th ult. for a force sufficient 
to protect the Statehouse against the intrusion of armed and violent 
men on Monday night and Tuesday morning prior to the hour for the 
Legislature to assemble. This I did upon evidence that a plan was ma- 
tured to take forcible possession of the halls of the Legislature and carry 
out the " shotgun " policy in the organization of the two Houses. Col. 
Black, as he was bound to do, responded by ordering a company of sol- 
diers to guard the Statehouse. To say that I ought to have done this 
myself is to speak without knowledge of the condition of affairs here. 
There is no State force available for such a purpose — a fact perfectly 
well known here. 

On the morning of Tuesday, the 27th ult., I detailed a State officer 
to take charge of the admission of persons to the Statehouse, with in- 
structions to admit only such persons as had official business in the 
Statehouse, or who held the certificates of the Secretary of State as 
members of the General Assembly. These orders were enforced, when- 
ever necessary, by the military officers on duty in the Statehouse. Later 
in the forenoon it seemed best to relax these orders and admit persons 
generally into the Statehouse. This was done. Subsequently when the 
Democratic members reached the door of the House of Representatives 
the Sergeant-at-Arms and his assistants, who were in charge of the door 
and acting under the orders of the Clerk of the former House, found 
themselves pressed u])on and about to be overpowered by a body of 
Democrats demanding admission. The Clerk had properly given 
orders to admit only those who held the certificates of the Secretary 
of State. In this emergency the Sergeant-at-Arms called u])on the mili- 
tary officers in charge of the United States troops to aid him in guard- 



ADMINISTRA TION. 443 

ing the doors against the intrusion of unauthorized persons, and such 
aid was granted. It is true that after conference with me upon the 
point, Gen. Ruger properly intended that this call for aid at the doors 
should be submitted to him before the aid was given ; and this is, so far 
as I know, the only act done by the military forces which was not pre- 
viously sanctioned by Gen. Ruger. This act, however, was in no sense 
in excess or violation of his orders from the President. No person 
holding the certificate of the Secretary of State was at any time refused 
admission to the Statehouse or to the House of Representatives. 

Second : It is not true, as charged, that the military commander here 
has assumed to decide upon the certificates of members of the General 
Assembly. The Clerk of the former House had decided that no per- 
sons except those holding certificates signed by the Secretary of State 
were entitled to enter the hall of the House or to participate in the 
organization. Whatever has been done by the military forces in this 
respect has been done to enforce this decision and order of the Clerk. 
To say that all this is not the business of the military forces is to say 
that the President's orders to enforce my authority and to protect the 
State against domestic violence are improper. It was certainly my duty 
to enforce the authority of the Clerk if I had the power ; and if, as was 
the fact, I had no adequate force to do this, then, if my authority was 
unquestioned, the action of the military force would seem to be 
warranted. 

Third : It is not true, as stated, that any persons hold certificates of 
election from the Supreme Court. The Court on application refused 
to issue any certificates. What the persons from Edgefield and Laurens 
counties hold are mere evidences from the Clerk of that Court that the 
Court made an order requiring the Canvassers and the Secretary of 
State to do what they have never done. If such papers are said to be 
valid certificates of election, entitling the bearers to be recognized as 
members of the House, I take issue, and appeal to the judgment of 
courts and lawyers. The Democratic members holding valid certifi- 
cates refused on Tuesday, doubtless under the advice of Senator Gor- 
don and our other Democratic strangers, to go into the House, because 
their friends from Edgefield and Laurens counties, without certificates, 
were refused admittance. No impediment other than this was placed 
in their way by any civil or military officer. 

Fourth : The House now presided over by Mr. Mackey was organ- 
ized with 60 present holding the certificates of the Secretary of State 
based on the action of the Canvassers, 59 of whom voted in the election 
of Speaker. This is a majority of 116, the whole number holding the 
certificates of the Secretary of the State. 

Fifth : The body presided over by Mr. Wallace has never had more 
than 57 persons holding the certificates of the Secretary of State — less 
than a majority of 116. 

Sixth : The present position of affairs is caused by the attempt of 
the Democrats to escape from the effects of the blunder committed by 
them on Tuesday, in refusing to take part in the organization of the 



444 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

House. They have forcibly injected themselves, including the persons 
(holding no certificates of election) from Edgefield and Laurens, into 
the House presided over by Mr. Mackey, and the Edgefield and Laur- 
ens men refuse to retire. That the whole force of the State, if any force 
was available, ought to be employed by me in enforcing the lawful 
orders of Mr. Mackey as Speaker, I entertain no doubt. As such force 
is not available, what alternative is left except a call upon the Presi- 
dent for aid in suppressing domestic violence ? To call this a " parlia- 
mentary struggle " is to do violence to language as well as to misstate 
facts. If a body of men can be permitted, without credentials and 
without right to take their places in a legislative body already duly or- 
ganized, and call their refusal to retire on the order of the lawful offi- 
cers of that legislative body and their usurpation of the Speaker's chair. 
a mere parliamentary struggle, the results are plain. This is, in fact, 
domestic violence now, and will soon be revolution. To yield to such 
violence is to abandon lawful government. 

Seventh : The Republicans desire a speedy and peaceful settlement 
of the present difficulties, but they will never, with my consent, yield 
one hair's breadth of their legal rights to secure peace, especially under 
the present menaces of the South Carolina Democracy. I have fought 
corruption in my own party, and shall not blanch before violence in the 
Democratic party. D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Columbia, S. C, Dec. 4, 1876. 

P. S. — Since preparing the above statement the Democrats have 
again withdrawn from the Statehouse. What further issues are to 
arise I cannot say. D. H. C. 

The vote for Governor and Lieutenant Governor was can- 
vassed without disturbance by the two Houses sitting in joint 
convention on the 5th of December, 1876. The reported vote of 
Edgefield and Laurens counties was not counted ; but no other 
counties were thrown out, although the Legislature had, upon 
evidence of gross frauds in two or three other counties, consid- 
ered and reported upon by the proper committee, given seats to 
Republicans claiming to be chosen in place of Democrats, to 
whom certificates had been given on the report of the Board of 
State Canvassers. The result of the vote for Governor was de- 
clared as follows : 

D. H. Chamberlain received 86,216 

Wade Hampton received 83,071 

And for Lieutenant Governor: 

R. H. Gleaves received 86,620 

W. D. Simpson received 82,521 

Governor Chamberlain's reelection was by a majority, ascer- 
tained and declared by the only body having authority to can- 
vass the vote, of 3,145. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Governor Chamberlain's Second Inaugural Address — Comments on the Address and 
on the Governor's Work by the Rochester (N. Y.) Detnocrat — General Hamp- 
ton Contradicts One of the Governor's Statements — The Governor's Response — 
Governor Chamberlain Again Exposes Misrepresentations by General Gordon 
— The pretended Legislature Declares Wade Hampton to be Elected Governor 
— Curt Correspondence between General Hampton and the Governor — Hon. 
D. T. Corbin Chosen United States Senator by the Legislature — The Pretended 
Legislature Chooses General M. C. Butler of Edgefield to be United States 
Senator — Congressional Committees in Columbia — The Governor States His Posi- 
tion with Reference to a Compromise — A Statement by the Governor of the Legal 
and Parliamentary Conditions — Why the Votes of Edgefield and Laurens Counties 
were Not Counted — A Summary of the Advantages to South Carolina of the Past 
Rule of the Republican Party — Governoi' Chamberlain's Bearing in the Crisis — 
Personal Traits Exemplified. 



ON the loth of December, 1876, Governor Chamberlain was 
inaugurated as Governor for a second term, and deliv- 
ered the following Address : 

Gentlemen of the Setiate and House of Representatives : 

I accept the ofifice to which, by the voice of a majority of the people 
of this State, I have a second time been called, with a full knowledge of 
the grave responsibilities and difficulties by which it is now attended. 
No considerations, except the clearest convictions of duty, would be 
sufficient to induce me to accept this great trust under the circum- 
stances which now surround us. I regard the present hour in South 
Carolina as a crisis at which no patriotic citizen should shrink from 
any post to which public duty may call him. In my sober judgment, 
our present struggle is in defence of the foundations of our Govern- 
ment and institutions. If we fail now, our Government — the Govern- 
ment of South Carolina — will no longer rest on the consent of the 
governed, expressed by a free vote of a majority of our people. If our 
opponents triumph — I care not under what guise of legal forms, — we 
shall witness the overthrow of free government in our State. 

My chief personal anxiety is, that I may have the firmness and wis- 
dom to act in a manner worthy of the great interests so largely com- 
mitted to my keeping. My chief public care shall be to contribute 
my utmost efforts to defend the rights, to guard the peace, and to pro- 
mote the welfare of the people of our State. 

445 



44^ GOVERN OK CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The constant occupation of my time with other duties, which I could 
not postpone, has prevented me from preparing the usual statements 
and recommendations respecting our public affairs. At the earliest 
practicable day I will discharge this duty. Our greatest interest, our 
most commanding duty now, is to stand firmly, each in his appointed 
place, against the aggressions and allurements of our political op- 
ponents. Our position up to the present time has been within the 
clear limits of our Constitution and laws. Nothing but the cowardice, 
or weakness, or treachery of our own friends, can rob us of the victory. 

I state what facts show, what overwhelming evidence proves, when 
I say that, if we yield now, we shall witness the consummation of a delib- 
erate and cruel conspiracy on the part of the Democratic party of this 
State to overcome by brute force the political will of a majority of 
thirty thousand of the lawful voters of this State. I have mourned 
over public abuses which have heretofore arisen here. I have, accord- 
ing to the measure of my ability, labored to make the conduct of our 
public affairs honest and honorable. But I stand appalled at the 
crimes against freedom, against public order, against good government, 
nay, against government itself, which our recent political experience 
here has presented. And I am the more appalled when I see the 
North, that portion of our country which is secure in its freedom and 
civil order, and the great political party which has controlled the Re- 
public for sixteen years, divided in its sympathies and judgment upon 
such questions. It is written in blood on the pages of our recent 
national history, that no government can rest with safety upon the 
enforced slavery or degradation of a race. In the full blaze of 
that great example of retributive justice which swept away a half 
million of the best lives of our country, we see the American people di- 
vided by party lines upon the question of the disfranchisement and 
degradation of the same race whose physical freedom was pur- 
chased at such a cost. And what is more astonishing still, there are 
Republicans who permit the errors which have attended the first efforts 
of this race in self-government to chill their sympathies to such an ex- 
tent that they stand coldly by, and practically say that the peace of 
political servitude is better than the abuses and disquiet which newly 
acquired freedom has brought. 

I denounce the conduct of the recent election on the part of our 
political o])ponents in this State as a vast brutal outrage. Fraud, pro- 
scription, intimidation in all forms, violence — ranging through all its 
degrees up to wanton murder — were its effective methods. The cir- 
cumstances under which we have assembled to-day show us how nearly 
successful has been this great conspiracy. It is for us, in the face 
of all dangers, in the face of false or timid friends, in the face of open 
enemies, to show that we understand the cause in which we are engaged, 
and that no earthly sacrifice is too great to secure its triumph. 

The gentleman who was my opponent for this office in the late elec- 
tion has recently declared, as I am credibly informed, that he held not 
only the peace of this city and State, but my life, in his hand. I do 



A D MINIS TRA Tl ON. 447 

not doubt the truth of his statement. Neither the public peace nor the 
life of any man who now opposes the consummation of this policy of 
fraud and violence is safe from the assaults of those who have enforced 
that policy. 

My life can easily be taken. I have held it, in the judgment of all 
my friends here, by a frail tenure for the last three months. But there 
is one thing no man in South Carolina can do, however powerful or 
desperate he may be, and that is to cause me to abate my hatred or 
cease my most vigorous resistance to this attempted overthrow and en- 
slavement of a majority of the people of South Carolina. " Here I 
stand ; I can do no otherwise : God be my helper." Wife and children, 
— dearer to me than " are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart" — all 
other considerations must give way before the solemn duty to resist the 
final success of that monstrous outrage under whose black shadow we 
are assembled to-day. 

The character and spirit of this brief address, which was pub- 
lished in almost every newspaper in the land, not less than the 
extraordinary circumstances under which it was delivered, made 
a profound impression on the public mind, and there were few 
journals which did not make it the theme of editorial comments. 
In the excited state of political and partisan feeling these com- 
ments were colored by prejudice, no doubt. The time was 
unpropitious for calm and just estimates of merit in act or speech. 
But those who have followed thus far this record will not fail to 
appreciate the high and cordial tribute to Governor Chamberlain 
expressed in the following editorial article from the Rochester 
(N. Y.) Democrat of December i6, 1876 : 

It is impossible to read the Inaugural Address of Governor Chamberlain, the full 
text of which appears in another place, without being impressed with the utter sin- 
cerity and devotion of its author. Fo!" the moment, we may ignore the legal contro- 
versies, in which he is involved, to pay our tribute of respect to the courage with 
which he is inspired. That Governor Chamberlain is of the mould in which heroes 
are cast, both his words and his works show forth. That he believes he is right, is a 
moral demonstration to those who have watched his course and studied his purpose. 
That, believing he is right, he will fearlessly tread the path of duty, is certain. No 
sacrifices seem to him too great, no dangers too imminent, to deter him from the 
mission to which he thinks he is called. That mission, in his view, is to give good 
government to all the citizens of South Carolina, and to protect them in each and 
every right. Not more deeply conscious of the right they contended for, or the 
liberty they intended, was the grim Covenanter, or the soldier of Naseby, than is this 
gallant representative of constitutional freedom, battling for a despised race against 
the hosts of his oppressors. 

We need not, in analyzing the quality of this man, maintain that all that he has 



448 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

done can be reconciled with the strict technicalities of the law. This is a separate 
issue, which, however, his friends need not fear to discuss. We are dealing with his 
animus, rather than with his acts — and this, we assert, challenges the admiration of all 
loyal and liberty-loving Americans. The speech before us, while informed with the 
noblest sentiments and the most inflexible determination, is free from undue self- 
exaltation. Governor Chamberlain states only the exact truth when he says that he 
has held his life by a frail tenure, for the last three months. The testimony of corre- 
spondents from South Carolina is uniform as to the deadly feeling with which des- 
perate men regard him, and the country would not be surprised at any time to hear 
that a tragedy similar to that which ended the career of Henry IV., or terminated 
the usefulness of William the Silent, at the summ.it of his greatness, had occurred in 
the streets of Columbia, or in the Executive Chamber of the " Palmetto State." And 
yet, the testimony is as uniform concerning the bravery with which Governor Cham- 
berlain has carried himself through the trying times in which he has been placed — the 
resolution which has nerved him to dare obloquy and reproach and to face peril and 
death in behalf of the principles he professes. 

All this appears in the Address, in which he once more dedicates himself to the 
cause of good government in the State whose alTairs he has wisely administered. He 
speaks deliberately ; he addresses a nation, when he arraigns the party of opposition 
in South Carolina as seeking through fraud, proscription, and all forms of violence to 
compass the overthrow and practical enslavement of a majority of the people of South 
Carolina ; and it is against this monstrous outrage that he protests and which he 
promises to resist even at the sacrifice of all that man holds dearest — his life. If it 
shall occur that out of the tumult and confusion that now obtains in South Carolina 
— the fierce war of words and the portents of the fiercer strife of arms — the State 
shall come with her Constitution intact, her laws supreme, and her peace assured, 
she will owe much to the firmness and the fearlessness of Daniel H. Chamberlain, 
once honored by all citizens with a valid title to respectability, as a discreet and hon- 
est ruler, now denounced by the whole body of electors opposed to him as an adven- 
turer and a thief. . . . Governor Chamberlain is precisely the same man he was 
a year ago, impelled by the same motives and pledged to the same ends. His cour- 
age has indeed been strikingly exemplified by the ordeal through which he has 
passed, but his fealty to principle remains unchanged. 

If it did not, he would shake the dust from his feet and leave the troubled State 
behind him. He would seek rest and safety among the people of the North. It can- 
not be an enviable lot to remain in a community where his name is traduced and his 
person endangered. He is a gentleman of refinement and culture. In one of the 
best of our Northern universities he was a scholar of high rank. As a writer and an 
orator he has few superiors in the nation. In his profession, at the North, he would 
easily win fame and fortune. Did he here seek political honors he could obtain them. 
With the reputation he has already acquired, his future would be guaranteed in any 
Northern State. He is not one of the ordinary " carpet-baggers," whom even we of 
the North have been taught to despise for their rapacity. No enemy claims that his 
gubernatorial record is blotted by corruption. Even the most violent of his foes has, 
at least until recently, freely admitted the honesty and the fidelity with which he has 
administered his ofifice. He has been scrupulously correct in his official capacity. 

What then has he personally to gain by continued consecration to the principles 



ADMINISTRA TION. 449 

he has already so conspicuously vindicated ? Nothing save the good of those whom 
he serves. This is for him sufficient stimulus. This equips him for the contest in 
which he is engaged ; and this will make him faithful to the end, whatever that end 
may be. This will enable him to bear up against vituperation. This will be the 
compensation for the abuse with which he is visited. This will encourage him to face 
all perils awaiting him. When impartial history writes the record of the Reconstruc- 
tion of the Southern States, she will award to few a higher meed of praise than to 
Daniel H. Chamberlain, the bold and sagacious Governor of that Commonwealth 
which first essayed to disrupt the Union. This may seem to some extravagant eulogy, 
but it is uttered calmly and conscientiously, in view of the qualities he has displayed 
in the extraordinary circumstances that have confronted him. 

One passage in Governor Chamberlain's address was the occa- 
sion of a public denial by General Wade Hampton. The whole 
matter is distinctly set forth in the following communication to 
the Columbia Union-Herald. 

Columbia, December 12, 1876. 
To the Editor of the Ufiion- Herald, 

Sir : I have to request that you publish in the Union-Herald the en- 
closed papers. 

The statements of General Elliott and Judge Settle are confirmed 
by the remarks of Senator Nash made yesterday in the Senate, as well 
as by the statements of Judge Denny made to me and to many other 
persons here. 

Very respectfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 



To the Public : — The following paragraph appears in an address of D. H. Chamber- 
lain, delivered in the Capitol to-day : 

The gentleman who was my opponent for this office in the late election declared, 
as I am credibly informed, that he holds not only the peace of this city and State but 
my life in his hands. I do not doubt the truth of his statement. Neither the public 
peace nor the life of any man who now opposes the consummation of this policy of 
fraud and violence is safe from the assaults of those who have opposed that policy. 

I pronounce this statement infamously false. I, by my unwearied exertions, have 
endeavored to preserve the peace of this State, and I have thus contributed to shield 
from popular indignation one who has proved himself a disgrace to his rank and a 
traitor to his trust. His conscience may make him tremble, but neither I nor the men 
with whom I act countenance the hand of the assassin. 

WADE HAMPTON. 



Columbia, S. C, December 9, 1876. 
His Excellency D. H. Chamberlain, Governor of South Carolina, 

Dear Sir : — In response to your request that I should state, as nearly as I can, my 
recollection of a conversation between General Wade Hampton and myself, I have the 
honor to say : 



450 



GO VERNOR CHA MBERLA IN ' S 



That on Thursday, 30th ult., while standing near the door of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, General Hampton approached me and enquired if I were Mr. Elliott. I 
replied in the affirmative ; whereupon he expressed a desire to confer with me for a 
moment. We then walked across the lobby to the glass door between the rooms of 
the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Speak- 
ing of the condition of affairs, General Hampton said that all his eflorts, from the in- 
ception of the campaign up to that moment, had been employed in the interests of 
peace and order, and that he hoped for a peaceful solution of the difificulties surround- 
ing us. I joined him in the expression of such hopes, and said that the efforts of the 
leading men on our side had been employed in like endeavors to maintain the peace, 
and assured him that they would always be so employed. I also said that I was 
pleased to be able to say that I fully believed that he had done much to preserve the 
public peace. 

After defining his position more fully, he remarked that he regarded you as being 
largely responsible for the present situation of affairs, and that it vv^as the duty, as well 
as the interest, of leading colored men like myself to refuse our support and counte- 
nance to you ; for, said he, " I can and will protect the people of this State, black and 
white alike, while Governor Chamberlain cannot protect either." Continuing, he said 
further : " Governor Chamberlain cannot protect his own life. I have had to protect 
him frotn the just indignation of the people, and if I were now to take my hands off 
the brakes for an hour, his life would not be safe." 

After a few more words between us, he then entered into conversation with Sena- 
tor Nash, who was on his way towards the Senate Chamber, while I walked towards 
the House of Representatives, stopping awhile to converse with Mr. T. C. Dunn and 
Senator Cochran, of Anderson. 

The above is the substance of the conversation to which you refer. In addition to 
the impressions made on my mind at the time, my recollection of it was strengthened, 
a day or two after, by the fact that Judge Settle, in my presence, detailed a conversa- 
tion which took place between General Hampton and himself, in which the same 
words, which I have above italicized, were used almost verbatim. As soon as these 
words were uttered by Judge Settle, I immediately informed him of the conversation 
between General Hampton and myself, and remarked upon the similarity of the ex- 
pressions used in each instance. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your Excellency's obedient servant, 

ROBT. B. ELLIOTT. 



Greensboro, N. C, December 9, 1876. 
His Excellency D. H. Chamberlain, 

Dear Sir : — In answer to your request of the 8th instant, to state a conversation I 
with others had with General Hampton, in which he referred to protecting your life, I 
have the honor to say : Judge Denny and myself called on General Hampton, accom- 
panied by General Bradley T. Johnson. During the interview both Judge Denny and 
myself expressed the opinion that, in view of the threatening aspect of affairs in Co- 
lumbia, the life of Governor Chamberlain was not safe in South Carolina. 

General Hampton remarked that his efforts to preserve the peace had been inces- 
sant ; that he had constantly advised moderation, and that by doing so he had doubt- 
less protected your life 



. / DM IN IS TRA TIOiV. 45 I 

I will not now say that what is given above is the exact language used by either 
side, but it is the substance of the conversation on that head. 

During the conversation General Gordon came into the room, but I cannot state 
how much or what part of the conversation he heard. 

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 

THOMAS SETTLE. 



General Gordon, of Georgia, persisted in his voluntary under- 
taking to enlighten the country regarding the situation in South 
Carolina, and provoked another communication from Governor 
Chamberlain to the New York Tribune. 

To the Editor of tJie Tribune : 

Sir — I should make an unworthy use of your permission to reply 
to Senator Gordon's last despatch if I did not confine myself to such 
matters as clearly affect the merits of the issues now presented to the 
country by recent events here. The temptation to retort is great, but 
I put it aside and say : 

First : Senator Gordon now says that his complaint is not against 
the direct action of army officers here, but against the placing of the 
army under my control and that of Dennis. I trust this admission will 
be noted by the public and contrasted with the letter to General Ru- 
ger of December ist, signed by J. B. Gordon, Wade Hampton, and 
A. C. Haskell, in which General Ruger is assailed in unmeasured 
terms, personally and officially, and his direct action denounced as per- 
sonally dishonorable and officially tyrannical. The writers of that let- 
ter did not then relieve General Ruger of responsibility by putting it 
upon me and my confederate. But Senator Gordon's last refuge fails 
when the fact is stated — a fact which I here challenge Senator Gordon 
and his confederates to disprove in any particular — that no United 
States troops have at any time been placed under my control or that of 
any other persons than the proper officers of the army. General Ru- 
ger has acted wholly independently of me and upon his own judgment 
and responsibility as an officer ; and it is certainly time that any pre- 
tence to the contrary be withdrawn or proved. 

Second : My information as to the design of the Democrats to take 
forcible possession of the halls of the Legislature prior to the hour for 
assembling on November 27th was received from members of the rifle 
clubs here. Whether this information was correct or not, Senator 
Gordon doubtless knows better than I do. But I repeat that my infor- 
mation was direct, abundant, and worthy of belief. I will add that 
events which have since taken place confirm me in the opinion that 
such a design was formed and matured. 

Third : Senator Gordon seeks to throw discredit on my statement 
that no effective State force was available for the protection of the 
State Government, by declaring that I have control of all the ordinary 
lawful agencies for enforcing the laws ; and he considers my statement 



452 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

a suggestive acknowledgment. It is indeed suggestive. It is suggest- 
ive of the fact that there exist here agencies outside the law, organized 
and equipped, armed and officered, too powerful to be resisted by any 
lawful force at my command. The Republicans here rely upon the 
law. So completely have they relied upon the law that they are now 
without the means of resisting or overcoming the unlawful agencies 
which threaten them. Neither Senator Gordon nor any man acquainted 
with the facts doubts that the State Government is unable to protect 
itself against the force now acting in opposition to it here. What then ? 
Does this im])air the validity of the State Government or its right to 
be protected ? When Senator Gordon asserts that General Hampton 
can keep the peace with no force except the civil tribunals and public 
opinion, he simply asserts that the Republicans here are law-abiding 
and peaceful ; and when, on the other hand, he asserts that with all the 
lawful agencies on my side I cannot keep the peace, he asserts what is 
true — that the Democrats are not law-abidmg, and, if left to their own 
will, would break the peace and overthrow the law. This is a correct 
picture of the relations of the two parties here. 

Fourth : The statements which I desire to repeat under this head 
are these : First, that no person holding the certificate of the Secretary 
of State, or even the certified copy of an order of the Supreme Court, 
failed to obtain admittance to the Statehouse on the 28th of November ; 
and, second, that no person holding the certificate of the Secretary of 
State was refused admittance to the hall of the House of Representa- 
tives. I repeat these statements in view of what Senator Gordon now^ 
asserts. There may have been delay in admitting persons who applied, 
until their right to enter was ascertained, but nothing more. It was a 
precaution necessary to the public peace and the peaceful organization 
of the Legislature, that persons not having official business in the 
Statehouse should be excluded on that day ; and it was a precaution 
necessary to the same end that only persons declared elected by the 
State Canvassers should be admitted to the hall of the House of Rep- 
resentatives. The former order was issued by me and enforced by 
General Dennis as my officer ; and the latter was issued by Mr. Jones, 
the Clerk of the former House, and enforced by the officers of the 
House under his control. The exclusion of Democratic members was 
self-imposed. They chose to retire because persons not entitled to 
admittance were not admitted with them. This is the exact statement 
of the whole case, and we stand upon it. 

Fi/t/i : Senator Gordon seeks to divert attention from the real issue 
and to represent the Republicans here as acting against the judgment 
of our State Supreme Court as well as the United States Supreme 
Court. He will not succeed. We say that the only power competent 
to declare the elections was the Board of State Canvassers, and no court 
has decided otherwise. Senator Gordon is a stranger here. He is not 
familiar with the decisions of our Supreme Court. This is not his 
fault, perhaps, but it is certainly his misfortune when he comes forward 
to argue this case before the country. He represents our Supreme 



ADMINISTRATION. 453 

Court as declaring, nearly three years ago, that the County Canvassers' 
returns were sufficient. Sufficient for what purpose ? To entitle a 
person to take his seat in the General Assembly ? He means this, or 
his reference is pointless. But our Supreme Court has never decided 
that County Canvassers' returns are sufficient to entitle a person to a 
seat in the General Assembly ; nor have they made any decision equiv- 
alent to this. Senator Gordon incidentally betrays his want of famili- 
arity with the decisions of our Supreme Court in expressing his belief 
that none of the decisions have ever been reversed on appeal to the 
Supreme Court of the United States. In this he is mistaken ; but it is 
a mistake of little importance compared with the error into which he falls 
when he undertakes to refer to the decision of our Supreme Court on the 
subject of a legislative quorum. He says that " this Court decided in 
a case not political, and when the Court and Governor Chamberlain 
were in accord, that a majority of 124 members constituted a quorum, 
and not a majority of 116, as decided by Governor Chamberlain." I 
am aware that this statement has been made by others who have less 
excuse than Senator Gordon for making erroneous statements ; but it 
is nevertheless a total error. In the case of Morton, Bliss, & Co. against 
Comptroller General (4 South Carolina Reports, 430) the Court had 
occasion to consider whether a constitutional provision requiring " a 
vote of two thirds of each branch of the General Assembly " meant 
two thirds of a quorum or two thirds of all the members. They de- 
cided that it meant two thirds of a quorum — that and nothing more. 
They did not decide that (i2> were necessary to form a quorum. They 
did not decide that a majority of 124 members were necessary to form 
a quorum. 

Senator Gordon regards my idea of a quorum of the House as " the 
essence of absurdity." I will present my idea and leave it for others 
to judge whether it is absurd or not. Our State Constitution says : 
" The House of Representatives shall consist of one hundred and 
twenty-four members." It also says : " A majority of each House shall 
constitute a quorum." The latter provision is identical with the pro- 
vision of Section 5 of Article I. of the United States Constitution. 
Now it is admitted that the United States House of Representatives 
has decided that this provision of the Constitution means a majority, 
not of the whole number of Representatives who may be chosen, but a 
majority of all the members actually chosen. This is my idea of a 
quorum. In our present case the Board of State Canvassers, the only 
body competent to declare the election, have declared that only one 
hundred and sixteen members were chosen in the late election. My 
idea of a quorum therefore is a majority of one hundred and sixteen, 
and for this I have the most commanding precedents, while Senator 
Gordon has not a precedent whatever for his idea. When the objec- 
tion is made to this view that the whole representation in our House is 
fixed, while by the United States Constitution the number is left to be 
fixed by Congress, the utter folly of the objection is apparent. The 
number of Representatives in Congress is always fixed at any given 



454 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

time as much as the number of our House. The same rule, therefore, 
which is applied to the National House of Representatives becomes a 
controlling authority over the question presented under our Consti- 
tution. 

Lastly : I feel no necessity of replying to Senator Gordon's closing 
reniarks. I trust, however, that I shall not be considered too unkind if 
I say that when he charges me with treason he is upon ground with 
which he should be familiar. My personal experience has not required 
me to study this subject deeply, and possibly I ought to feel alarmed 
at Senator Gordon's charge. Our modest claim, however, is that we 
are now, as on former occasions, resisting an effort to subvert our Gov- 
ernment, destroy our institutions, and enslave a majority of our people, 
and that in this struggle Senator Gordon aspires to leadership, as 
before, on the wrong side. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Columbia, S. C, December 14, 1876. 

The group of Democrats who maintained a pretence of being 
a House of Representatives, with the Democratic Senators who 
sat, as occasion served, either with the Senate in session at the 
Statehouse or with the company of Democrats meeting in 
Armory Hall, went through a form of canvassing returns for 
Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and declared Wade Hamp- 
ton and his associate candidate on the Democratic ticket duly 
chosen, whereupon General Hampton and his associate went 
through a ceremony of inauguration, General Hampton making a 
brief and unimportant address, while some of his adherents cele- 
brated the occasion by vehement and incendiary speeches against 
Governor Chamberlain. One sequel of this performance was the 
following interesting correspondence : 

State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, December 18, 1876. 

Sir : — As Governor of South Carolina, chosen by the people thereof, I have quali- 
fied in accordance with the Constitution, and I hereby call upon you, as my predeces- 
sor in the office, to deliver up to me the Great Seal of the State, together with the 
possession of the Statehouse, the public records, and all other matters and things ap- 
pertaining to said office. 

Respectfully, yovir obedient servant, 
(Signed) WADE HAMPTON, 

Governor. 

D. II. ClIAMIiERLAIN, Esq. 



ADMINISTRATION. 455 

State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, December i8, 1876. 
Sir : — I have received the communication in which you call upon me to deliver up 
to you the Great Seal of the State, etc., etc. 

I do not recognize in you any right to make the foregoing demand, and I hereby 
refuse compliance therewith. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 
Wade Hampton, Esxi- 

This Legislature had the duty of choosing a United States Sen- 
ator in place of Hon. T. J. Robertson, whose term would expire 
on the 4th of March. Hon. David L. Corbin was chosen on the 
1 2th of September. Other candidates voted for by Republicans 
were ex-Congressman Elliott, lately chosen Attorney General, C. 
C. Brown of Charleston, and F. A. Palmer, a member of the Legis- 
lature. No Democrats voted in the lower branch, but in the 
upper branch all the Senators of that party voted, complimenting 
by their suffrages General M. C. Butler of Edgefield County, and 
General Gary of the same county. On the same day the 
pretended Legislature took one ballot. On the 19th the Demo- 
cratic Senators joined the pretended House of Representatives in 
a so-called joint ballot, and General M. C. Butler was chosen on the 
part of this body. His conspicuous services to the cause of the 
" Straight-outs, ' particularly his connection with the Hamburg 
crime, appear to have marked him for early honor and reward. 
Major Corbin, a native of Vermont, was graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1853, served in the Union army throughout the war, ex- 
cept while a captive in Libby Prison, was severely wounded in bat- 
tle, was detailed by General Sickles for duty in the Freedman's 
Bureau in South Carolina, and had remained in the State. He 
had served in the State Senate, and had been United States Dis- 
trict Attorney for South Carolina for several years. He was an 
able lawyer, an outspoken supporter of the reform policy of Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain, and a gentleman whose high character and 
various accomplishments qualified him for an honorable career in 
tlie National Legislature. 

Soon after the meeting of the Legislature, while the excite- 
ment caused by the existence of a pretended Legislature was at 



45^ GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

its height, some four or five Republicans were prevailed upon to 
join the Democratic body, but when they discovered that the real 
Legislature did not collapse they soon returned. 

At this time Committees of both Houses of Congress were 
in South Carolina investigating the conditions and circumstances 
of the election. A majority of the committee of the House of 
Representatives were Democrats whose chief aim was to discover 
some pretext for counting the vote of the State for the Demo- 
cratic candidate for President, but they were quite unsuccessful. 
They did a large business, however, in disseminating, by means 
of reported conversations, letters, and despatches, calumniating 
reports regarding the Governor and the Republican party, and 
contributed not a little to a confusion of public opinion through- 
out the country with regard both to the questions at issue and 
the circumstances of the case. Not the least preposterous and 
harmful of the reports which gained currency at that time were 
those diligently propagated to the effect that Governor Chamber- 
lain was seeking a compromise and anxious to make terms with 
the usurping and insurrectionary forces. These reports finally 
took such a form as made it expedient to quash them once 
for all, which was effectually done by the following article in the 
Columbia Union-Herald of December 26th, entitled " The Gov- 
ernor on Compromise " : 

Governor Chamberlain was interviewed yesterday respecting the recent reports of 
a compromise of the present difficulties here. Being asked if he was responsible for 
any offers of compromise he answered that he was not ; that he had never suggested 
or authorized the suggestion of compromise. Being asked to give his views of the 
question of a compromise he answered that he saw no room for any compromise. 
There might be surrender, but of compromise, meaning by the term a mutual yield- 
ing of advantage, there could be none. The Governorship was the strategic aim of 
each party. That office alone commanded the whole situation. The Governor con- 
tinued : 

" I have no purpose in holding my present position except to prevent the success, 
of a great crime, namely, the success of the Democratic party here, conducted on the 
plan of brute force. I despise the man who would not fight for such a cause, and I 
have much more respect for Gary and Butler than I have for Republicans who want 
to purchase peace by consenting to recognize as valid the apparent results of the 
late campaign. It is precisely like the conduct of the " Union Savers " from 1850 to 
i860. They were ready always to sacrifice for the Union the very things the Union 
was framed to secure, namely, liberty, justice, good government. Just so do we 
hear a great deal about the ' sacred forms of law,' but very little about the sacred 



ADMINISTRATION. 457 

substance of justice. I do not intend to break the law or to overstep the law, but I 
do intend to exhaust all lawful remedies and defences before I yield, and if I have ta 
choose between the letter and the spirit of the law I shall choose the spirit." 

The Governor was asked if he had seen the report that he would accept the 
United States Senatorship if a compromise could be effected. He answered that 
such a story was absurd. There were many reasons why such a report could not be 
true. In the first place, there was no such place to bargain away. Mr. Corbin was 
duly elected to that place, and no one else could be elected until a vacancy arose. In 
the second place, he (the Governor) would not be a candidate for the place under any 
circumstances. 

" Finally," said the Governor, " I want it distinctly understood that I will accept 
no office or place, great or small, as the result of yielding my present position. I 
shall be Governor or nothing, and it is an insult to me to suggest that I should take 
any office as the price or reward or result of giving up this contest. I am not trad- 
ing in my position, nor shall I allow others to trade for me." 

There are several official Reports which set forth with more 
or less fulness the situation at this troublous period and the con- 
ditions precedent out of which it sprung, as well as the steps of 
its progress, among them the Report of the Special Committee of 
the House of Representatives of South Carolina relative to the 
organization of their body and the constitutional validity thereof,, 
adopted December 21, 1876," the Reports of the Committees of 
Congress who visited the State, and the memorials to Congress of 
both parties. All these are of record and accessible to persons who 
may have occasion to examine them. None of them, however, 
presents a more graphic or trustworthy view of affairs at this 
stage than a report by Mr. James Redpath of a conversation with 
Governor Chamberlain, that was published in the Chicago Tri- 
bune, of December 26th and December 28th, in two communica- 
tions dated Columbia, December 22d and December 23d, from 
which extracts are here given. Mr. Redpath stated at the end 
of the two letters that " the conversation was reported by a sten- 
ographer, word for word, as it occurred, and is now given without 
amendment or revision." What is here quoted is but a fragment 
of the whole which filled many columns of the Tribune. The 
above statement of Mr. Redpath affords a key to the method by 
which Governor Chamberlain was able to accomplish so much com- 
munication with the public while taxed with other labors. 

The Legislature adjourned on the 22d, the day on which the 
first of these letters was written. " Every thing," says Mr. Red- 



458 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

path, in the beginning of the letter, " is quiet — on the surface. 
But if it were not for the presence of the national troops there 
would be a revolution that would wet the soil of the State with 
Republican blood before twenty-four hours were passed." 

Although Governor Chamberlain in this talk speaks as a 
Republican and an interested party, his statements of fact are 
characterized by his habitual care and accuracy, and tally with 
the official findings. His opinions and reasoning may be left to 
make their own impression. What the Governor says regarding 
the net results of Republican rule in South Carolina, is pertinent 
and permanently valuable. 

Q. — " Governor, will you give us a brief statement of the present 
political complication, or, what they call in the North, the ' South Caro- 
lina Muddle ' ? " 

Governor Chamberlain — " The actual facts of the present situation 
are these : According to the Republican view, the last campaign re- 
sulted in the election of all the Republican State officers, as well as the 
Republican Presidential Electors, and three out of the five Congress- 
men. The Board of State Canvassers have declared this result, and 
the Republicans have acted upon it, and have proceeded to inaugurate a 
Governor and Lieutenant Governor, who are now in possession of these 
offices. The other Republican State officers have qualified and are in 
possession of their respective offices. And both branches of the Legis- 
lature are now in session in the Statehouse, engaged in the ordinary 
work of legislation. 

" On the other hand the Democrats have claimed that the result of 
the election gave Hampton and Simpson, their candidates for Governor 
and Lieutenant Governor, a small majority of about ],ooo over the 
Republican candidates. They have disregarded the declaration of the 
Board of Canvassers, and have proceeded, first, to organize a House 
of Representatives, outside of the legal House, and finally, with long 
delay and much hesitation, they advanced to the step of declaring the 
election of Hampton and Sim]:)son, as Governor and Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, upon certified copies of the returns obtained from the Clerks of 
the Courts in the various counties, and have inaugurated these two 
officers. Their Government is at best fragmentary, and they are wholly 
unable to discharge any of the functions of a State Government, ex- 
cept so far as they may do it through the Governor alone. They do not 
claim to have the Legislature, nor to be able to do any acts of legisla- 
tion. 

'' Of course there are the gravest questions of constitutional law 
involved in the statement I have just made, about some of which there 
is more or less controversy. The leading question concerns«the valid- 
ity of the organization of the legal House of Representatives. The 



ADMINISTRA TION. 459 

fact is that inasmuch as the Board of State Canvassers declared that 
only ii6 members were elected to the House of Representatives, the 
Republicans regard that number as comprising a// who had any proper 
claim to act in the organization of the House or to take any part in the 
action of that House at all, until whatever claim they might have should 
be passed upon by the House itself after its organization. The Con- 
stitution of the State declares that the House of Representatives shall 
consist of 1 24 members ; and if all the members had been elected a 
quorum would have consisted of a majority of 124, but as only 116 
were actually chosen, the Republican view is, that a quorum, in this in- 
stance, consists in a majority of 116. 

" On the 28th day of November, 1876, when the House of Represen- 
tatives was organized, there were present sixty members declared elected 
by the Board of State Canvassers. Of these, fifty-nine, just a majority 
of 116, took part in the organization, and, according to the view just 
presented, had a right to do so, because they constituted a quorum. 

" On the other hand, the Democrats have claimed, as I have before 
said, that a majority of 124, namely, sixty-three, was the lowest number 
that, under the Constitution, could form a quorum to do legislative 
business." 

LEGISLATIVE PRECEDENTS REVIEWED. 

" In considering this question, of a legislative quorum under the 
Constitution, it will be found that in all essential respects the case is 
precisely like a similar case which might arise, and in fact has arisen, 
under a corresponding provision of the United States Constitution, 
the only difference between the two being unimportant, so far as local 
practice and rule is concerned. For instance, the United States Con- 
stitution provides, simply, that the House of Representatives shall con- 
sist of a certain number of members, to be apportioned by Congress, 
based upon a certain basis of population. The basis of population 
varies with each decade, and the whole number of Representatives 
varies with each decade, but all the time the whole number of Repre- 
sentatives in the House of Representatives at Washington, is just as 
fixed and definite as if a specified number were named in the Consti- 
tution. The provisions respecting a quorum of the United States Con- 
stitution are identical with those of the State of South Carolina. Now, 
in t86i, owing to a failure to elect Representatives to Congress in the 
seceding States, it became necessary to determine whether, in order to 
transact legislative business, it was necessary that there should be pres- 
ent in the House of Representatives a quorum of the whole number 
provided for by the statutes passed in conformity with the Constitution, 
or whether some other rule was the true test of a legislative quorum. 
It was decided repeatedly (a conclusion acquiesced in fully by both 
parties) that a quorum consisted of a majority of the members actually 
chosen. Again, in the next Congress, in the session of 1862-63, th^ 
same question arose in the Senate, when it was elaborately argued and 
decided by a formal resolution that a quorum of the Senate consisted 
of a majority of the members actually chosen. This resolution was 



460 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

adopted by the vote of the ablest men of both parties, among them on 
the Republican side, Charles Sumner, Fessenden, Wilson, and Wade, 
and on the Democratic side, Reverdy Johnson and Lyman Trumbull 
(now a Democrat), and others. We here have regarded these prece- 
dents as controlling, and have acted upon them. We had a majority 
of all the members actually chosen when the House of Representatives 
was organized. After the organization, the House proceeded to decide 
contested seats in several of the counties, and seated the Republican 
claimants, so that the whole number of new members acting with the 
present House has been as high as seventy-three. At one time five of 
these men were induced to secede from the legal House and join tem- 
porarily the secession House ; two of them have since returned to their 
proper allegiance. The legal House now consists of seventy members, 
which, under any view of the question of a quorum, would be sufficient. 
The Senate is unquestionably Republican. One half of them are elected 
every two years, the present political division being eighteen Republi- 
cans to thirteen Democrats. The two vacancies were caused by the 
failure to elect in the counties of Edgefield and Laurens. The Senate 
has from the first recognized the legal House. The two bodies have 
cooperated in acts of legislation ; have recognized me as Governor, 
invariably ; have met in joint assembly, first, for the declaration of the 
vote for Governor and Lieutenant Governor ; and second, for the con- 
firmation of the election of United States Senator — as well as to wit- 
ness my inauguration as Governor. It will thus be seen that the only 
alleged defect in the Republican measures for the Government of the 
State grows out of a claim that no less than sixty-three members could 
constitute a quorum of the lower House. 

" I have before stated substantially the defects in the Democratic 
situation. They claim to have had a valid House of Representatives 
from the first, but make no claim to the Senate, or to any State officers, 
except Governor and Lieutenant Governor. In the face of all this 
they have, notwithstanding, proceeded to inaugurate their Governor, 
but have been unable, of course, to accomplish any legislative work, 
and Hampton, so far as I know, has not yet assumed to perform any 
Executive functions. 

" I regard the legal situation as entirely safe and satisfactory for the 
Republicans. There are grave practical difficulties that may be thrown 
in our way by the Democrats. And it is too early to predict how we 
shall find our way through all the difficulties before us. One thing is 
certain : the situation is much more satisfactory now than it has been 
at any time since the election." 

THE TERROR AND THE FRAUD. 

Q. — " Gen. Gordon, Senator from Georgia, stated in a telegram 
addressed at the President (and published by the Associated Press, I 
believe, before the President saw it) that ' during the late exciting can- 
vass in this State no blood had been shed except by the partisans of 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 46 1 

Chamberlain.' If my memory serves me rightly, Wade Hampton also 
signed the despatch. What is your answer to that statement?" 

Gov. C. — " Such a statement is a monstrous falsehood, by whomso- 
ever stated. When I say a falsehood, I mean untrue in fact, and I am 
unable to see how it is not an untruth in intent, by any person who has 
the slightest familiarity with the history of the last four months in 
South Carolina. My own belief is that over one hundred Republicans 
have lost their lives, purely on account of their political opinions, 
since the ist of last July in this State, and I know that more than fifty 
well-authenticated cases of political murder have occurred in this State. 
******* 

'' On the day of election, however, the most effective means em- 
ployed for overcoming the Republican majority was repeating. This 
was practised by bands of Georgians, who raided from poll to poll 
throughout the county [Edgefield], as well as by many of the white 
people residents of the county, who voted at different polls, and often- 
times repeated at the same poll. There was hardly a precinct in the 
county where the managers were not so much in fear of bodily injury 
or death as not to allow them to discharge the duties of their office 
properly. In some instances the ballot-boxes were taken possession 
of during the day, and carried away from the polls, probably for the 
purpose of stuffing them with Democratic votes, and in other instances 
they were taken possession of at the close of the polls, and no count as 
required by law was allowed until those who had them in charge were 
ready. 

" The United States Supervisors and Deputy Marshals that were 
detailed for the various polls were in many instances prevented from 
being present or even in sight of the ballot-boxes, and they were so 
completely intimidated by the evidences of violence around, that they 
rarely dared to make any report of the violence and disorder they wit- 
nessed. 

" What was not accomplished by actual repeating was accomplished 
in the making up of returns, and here again the officers of the election 
were threatened, and so much violence was threatened, that they Avere 
required m very many instances to sign returns which they knew to be 
false. 

" And, finally, when the commissioners of election at the Courthouse 
aggregated the returns from the polls, two of this Board of Canvassers 
considered themselves in such danger of injury or death that they 
signed the returns, knowing them to be false, and did n't even dare to 
send up to Columbia any protest against the returns, or any evidence 
of the violence and disorder which attended the election. 

" Unfortunately, on the day following the election, the United 
States troops were ordered away from Edgefield, and it was not until 
by special authority a company of United States troops were ordered 
back, that any progress was made toward obtaining any evidence of the 
violence and disorder in this county. I recollect well that the first 
messenger who brought us any evidence from Republican sources of 



4^2 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

* 
the election was a colored woman who was sent over because no man 
dared to expose himself to the danger of travelling from Edgefield 
Courthouse to Columbia." 

******* 

Q. — " How did the returns of the last election compare with the re- 
turns of previous elections at which there was no intimidation, or but 
little intimidation, and with the male white and male colored popula- 
tion of the county ? I ask this question because General Gordon has 
described the throwing out of the ' heavy Democratic majorities ' of this 
county and Laurens as a ' great outrage ' on the part of your authorities." 

Gov. C. — '' The returns were in startling contrast to the returns of 
any previous election held in this county. For instance, the entire vote 
of this county, Republican and Democratic, in 1874, was a little over 
6,000, which was a decidedly full vote for that county ; and, in the 
present election, the aggregate reported vote is over 9,300. In the 
election of 1874 the Republican majority was 1,200 ; and, in this elec- 
tion, the reported Democratic majority is over 3,200. Besides this, the 
reported vote of the county is over twenty-six hundred in excess of all 
[male] persons, white and colored, over twenty-one years of age, in the 
county, according to the State census of 1875, which shows a large 
excess of population over the United States census of 1870. 

" In view of these facts, the Board of State Canvassers decided as 
to the county of Edgefield that no legal and valid election had taken 
place on the 7th of November, and that they could not decide that any 
persons had been elected in that county at that election. 

" The Board reached the same conclusion as to the county of 
Laurens, upon grounds generally the same as those in Edgefield, and 
with this notable addition : that the returns of the Board of County 
Canvassers in Laurens County were signed by only two of the three 
members of the Board, one of these two signing under written protest, 
and afterwards making his affidavit before the Board of State Canvas- 
sers that he signed simply to save his life until he could get to Columbia, 
or some other place of safety. The election was, therefore, not only 
void in itself, but there were no returns of the election that could be 
taken notice of by the Board of State Canvassers. In this way it came 
about that only 1 16 members of the House of Representatives received 
certificates of their election from the Board of Canvassers. These two 
counties had eight representatives, five from Edgefield, and three from 
Laurens — with the one Senator from each." 

THE LEGISLATURE. 

Q. — " All were rejected ? " 

Gov. C. — "Yes, all were rejected from both counties." 
Q. — " How many Democrats were elected at the late election to the 
House, exclusive of these two counties ? " 
Gov. C— '' Fifty-seven." 
Q. — ** A minority of the House ? " 
Gov. C. — " Yes, a minority, under any view of the question of a 



ADMINISTRATION. 463 

quorum — I mean to say a minority of 116, and of course a minority of 
124. The only pretext that the Democrats have that they had a 
quorum when they organized their House came from their including 
the claims of persons who appeared on the face of the returns to have 
been elected from Edgefield and Laurens." 

Q. — " From whom do your members-elect to the House of Repre- 
sentatives receive their certificates ?" 

Gov. C. — " From the Secretary of State. He issues them upon the 
declaration of the election made by the Board of State Canvassers." 

Q. — " To how many of these Democrats did he issue certificates ? " 

Gov. C. — "To only fifty-seven." 

Q. — " Then how did these fifty-seven members, who do not consti- 
tute a quorum of the House, seat the eight members from these two 
counties ? Is there any law of South Carolina that authorizes them to 
do so ? " 

Gov. C. — " No law whatever ; they simply did it without law and with- 
out precedent, and in defiance of the law. In fact it was a sheer assump- 
tion that because the members from Edgefield and Laurens appeared by 
the returns, as originally sent in to the Board of State Canvassers, to have 
been elected, that they therefore loere elected, notwithstanding the 
Board of State Canvassers had declared otherwise, and the Secretary 
of State had refused to give them certificates of election." 

Q. — " I understand you to say that the seceding body claiming to 
be the Democratic House has no legal quorum under any interpreta- 
tion of the law, and also that it has no Senate at all ? How does it get 
along without a Senate ? Do any of the Democrats in the legal Senate 
act with the secessionists' Senate, or have they seceded from the legal 
Legislature altogether ? " 

Gov. C. — " No, they have no Senate whatever, and no portion of 
the Senate which cooperates with the legal House of Representatives 
pretends in any way to cooperate with the secession House. They are 
simply holding daily sessions of their secession House without having 
any pretence to a Senate." 

Q. — " Have the Democratic Senators who were elected at this last 
election taken seats in the legal Senate which recognized you as Gov- 
ernor, or do they hold a ' rump ' Senate in the secession-halls ? " 

Gov. C. — " All the Senators-elect have actually qualified, and taken 
their seats in the Senate which meets in the Statehouse, and which 
recognizes me as Governor, and the persons claiming to have been 
elected from the two counties of Edgefield and Laurens are also clam- 
oring for seats in the same Senate." 

******* 

Q. — " How does this legislative '' Hampton Legion " pretend to be 
able to elect United States Senators with only one branch of their Leg- 
islature, even if it should be admitted that // had a legal quorum ? " 

Gov. C. — " That I may call an insoluble Democratic mystery. 
Plainly, they have no grounds on which to claim that they are com- 
petent to elect a United States Senator." 



464 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Q. — " Is it true that Democratic Senators sitting and voting daily in 
the Legislature that recognizes you as Governor, and addressing your 
Lieutenant Governor every time they rise as the President of the 
Senate, have gone over to the secession Legislature and voted for 
General Butler ? " 

Gov. C. — " Yes, they have done precisely that. They actually voted 
on the day of the election of Mr. Corbin, they actually voted in the 
Senate in the Statehouse, and yet they have since, as you have re- 
minded me, gone to the secession House and voted again for M. C. 

Butler." 

******* 

THE " CARPET-BAG " GOVERNMENTS. 

Q. — " The Democrats have made great complaints of what they call 
the misrule of the "carpet-bag" Government of South Carolina. They 
claim also that you have been the most vehement in denunciation of 
that negro misrule, although you are now its representative. Have you 
any objection to talking on that subject?" 

Gov. C. — " No ; I have no objection whatever to stating my own 
views, as well as my own course, upon any of these matters 

" It is quite too much the custom in speaking of what are called the 
' carpet-bag ' Governments of the South to present only one side of the 
picture. I freely admit that there is one side which is to a large de- 
gree discreditable to the State Governments of South Carolina for 
some part of the time since 1867. And I have during my own Admin- 
istration considered it my duty, for the best interests of the State, of 
the Republican party, and especially of both races of people living on 
this soil, without regard to party, to oppose and discountenance many 
of the practices that have grown up under our State Government since 
reconstruction. In consecjuence of being engaged somewhat conspicu- 
ously in this work of correcting Republican abuses, it has been very 
erroneously supposed that I was a wholesale denouncer of the Govern- 
ment which has existed here since reconstruction. 

" The fact is that I have never lost sight of the benefits the new 
order of things has conferred upon this State. And I say now, very 
deliberately, that in my judgment the so-called 'carpet-bag' Govern- 
ments of South Carolina have done more for the permanent prosperity 
and progress of South Carolina than any other agency which has ever 
existed in this State. 

" Now, I am willing to catalogue all the abuses against good gov- 
ernment which have existed here under Republican rule since the war. 
I admit that the State debt has been needlessly increased, and large 
sums of money raised by taxation have been expended in unnecessary 
amounts upon unnecessary objects, and that many ruthless, incompe- 
tent, and dishonest persons have crejyt into public office ; although, as 
a strict matter of justice, I think I ought to say here that quite as 
many of such persons have been natives as otherwise. Yet when this 
tale is all told, I still say there are certain indisputable facts which 
ought always to be stated as the other side of this picture and essential 



A DMINIS TRA TION. 465 

to a just and accurate judgment of what has taken place in this State 
since the war. I refer now to such remarkable facts as these — that 
under Republican influences that system of representation in South 
Carolina which threw the whole political power of the State into the 
hands of comparatively few persons, numerically speaking, which gave 
political power and influence to one class of citizens and placed the 
burden of supporting the Government almost exclusively upon another 
class, has been completely revolutionized. And we have now a just 
system of representation, giving just influence and power to every class 
of the community and to each individual, and laying the burdens of 
taxation and the support of the Government equally and justly upon 
all classes of the people and upon all descriptions of property. 
******* 

" But still, over and above all these evils, we have this to show for 
Republican rule in South Carolina : A free and just Constitution under 
which, so far as the organic law can effect it, the rights of all the people 
of South Carolina are secured ; a just distribution of the political 
power of the State between both the races and among all the people ; a 
system of taxation which is, in my judgment, as correct as has been de- 
vised in any State in the Union ; a system of local affairs and local admin- 
istration which is simple, convenient, and as unexceptionable as can be 
devised ; a system of public education which embraces and extends to all 
the people of the State alike ; and now, after the first eight years' experi- 
ence under that Constitution, a habit of self-government, and to the 
exercise of political power on the part of all the people of the State, 
which Avould never have dawned upon the State except under Repub- 
lican rule, and under what, as I have said, is so universally called the 
* carpet-bag ' Administrations. 

" Now, put in one scale the virtual stagnation and practical oppres- 
sions of the old systems, and in the other scale the free and open 
prospect, and the actual progress in all the habits and methods of self- 
government, which we have seen since 1868, and along with it the great 
abuses of which I have spoken, and I submit that no man who values 
political freedom, or who is capable of striking a just balance between 
the tw'o systems, will hesitate to say that at the end of eight years more 
of experience under the free government in South Carolina, but will 
confess, what a few of us are able to see to-day, namely, that Republi- 
canism, with all its faults, has made South Carolina its debtor in a sum 
greater than that earned by any other political agency known to our 
history. And I am not saying this to-day for the first time, nor am I 
influenced by recent events in now saying it, but simply because, when 
the enemies of the Republican party flaunt in the face of the nation the 
sins of the former ' carpet-bag ' Governments of South Carolina, it is 
proper that somebody should tell them that along with these abuses 
South Carolina has in fact been making the greatest progress that she 
has ever made in the same number of years. . . ." 

Q. — " Was there any general system of free education in South 
Carolina before the war — either for whites or blacks ? " 

Gov. C. — " No, sir ; there was 7ione at all.'' 



466 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

The following extracts from newspaper correspondence sent 
from Columbia during this exciting period are of a nature rather 
private and personal than public and of^cial, but they throw 
a strong light on some phases of the trial through which Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain was then passing: 

[From a letter to the Cincinnati Commercial \iy Dr. H. V. Redfield.] 
Chamberlain is conspicuously the one South" Carolina Republican who has never 
used politics to make money. His Republicanism is from conviction, and he has 
done all that mortal man could do to make it respectable in that State. He has 
wasted his law practice, endangered his life, and fooled away all his money trying to 
be Governor, not because he wanted to be, or because the place was at all desirable, 
but he got into the harness, and from his view of things there was no way but 
to pull through. His instincts as a reformer are so earnest, and his desire to make 
the Republican name respectable in South Carolina so strong, that he went before the 
Legislature and urged them to reduce his own salary to $3,000, a beginning in the 
work of retrenchment. He pleaded for economy and reform with tears in his eyes, 
and for the selection of decent and competent men for judges. But talk of this sort 
to the South Carolina Legislature is about as effective as the reading of Watts' hymns 
to a drove of mules. He has been serving as Governor the past four months without 
pay and without prospect of pay. His treasury is empty. Tens of thousands of dol- 
lars have rolled into Hampton's coffers, because the tax-paying portion of the com- 
munity recognize him, while Chamberlain's treasury has received but $900. He is a 
man of decided ability and culture — a graduate of Yale — and was pronounced by the 
late Reverdy Johnson to be one of the best lawyers in America. He has an interest- 
ing family, and the relief they will feel should his claims to the Governorship be de- 
cided adversely cannot be measured in words. For months his devoted wife has^ 
lived in daily and nightly dread that the hand of an assassin would take her husband. 
"What satisfaction is such a life to a cultivated, quiet, domestic man, a natural scholar 
and student, having little in common with South Carolina politics and pistols ? He 
has only sought to maintain his position through the most devoted loyalty to the 
principles of civil liberty to all men. 



[From a letter to the New York Times by Mr. Howard Carroll.] 
The beautiful and accomplished wife of Daniel H. Chamberlain had even a more 
terrible experience. Never, so long as I live, shall I forget a night after the election 
in Columbia, when the Democrats, believing they had elected their national ticket, 
went wildly through the streets, drunk with joy and mad with whisky. The Governor 
sat in the Executive Chamber of the desolate Statehouse, calm and collected as ever, 
but with a pale face and cjuivering lip, which were not usual to him. There was no 
one in the chamber but he and L and as we sat waiting for good news of the election, 
which did not come, a great crowd of yelling red-shirted rifle-club Democrats, drunk 
like the rest of those in the town, came about the building and under the Governor's 
windows cursing, shouting, discharging their guns and pistols, and with jeers and 
threats of violence, calling upon Chamberlain to show his Radical head that they 
might blow it off. Fearing for his life — and it was in continual danger — a number of 



ADMINISTRA TIOA'. 



467 



friends came in and urged him to go home. " No, no," he said, " my duty is here, 
and I will stay." Then they went out, and he, turning to me, exclaimed, as if his 
brave, true heart would break : " Oh, my God, if I only could go ! My poor wife ! 
my poor wife ! " At that time I did not understand nor appreciate the full meaning 
of his words. I did both when, some days later, it was announced that Mrs. Cham- 
berlain had given birth to a child. It was born amid the shouts and curses, the 
cheers and imprecations of lawless men who were at any moment ready to send its 
father into another world. Who can tell of the agony that was suffered by that 
father and mother ? And after all, their suffering was as nothing compared to the 
trials which the black men and women of the South have been subjected to because 
of their fidelity to the Republican party. 





CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Trying Condition Prolonged for Two More Months — Governor Hayes Becomes 
President — Surprising Communication Despatched to Governor Chamberlain on 
the Day of the Inauguration — Governor Chamberlain's Reply — His Despatch to 
Hon. D. T. Corbin — Mr. Evarts Explains — Previous Action of Senator Mat- 
thews in the Character of Conciliator — Governor Chamberlain and General 
Hampton Invited to Washington by the President — Governor Chamberlain's 
Statement of the Case to the President — The Administration Determines to 
Withdraw the United States Troops from Columbia — Governor Chamberlain 
Declares It Useless to Make Further Contest — Governor Chamberlain's Address 
to South Carolina Republicans on Abdicating His Office — Accompanying Docu- 
ments — Transfer of the Executive Office to General Hampton — Conclusion. 



IN this strained and perilous condition the State of South Caro- 
lina continued through January and February while the 
whole nation awaited with painful anxiety and apprehension the 
issue of the proceedings in Washington to determine the disputed 
election of President. There was no doubt at any time that if 
Mr. Tilden became President he would recognize Hampton as Gov- 
ernor and promptly withdraw the United States troops, leaving 
the Republican majority at the mercy of the South Carolina rifle 
clubs. But there was no expectation that if Governor Hayes be- 
\ came President he would pursue a similar course. President Grant 
' continued to recognize Governor Chamberlain as the Chief Magis- 
trate, and the body that sat in the Statehouse as the legal Legis- 
'\ lature. Upon Governor Chainberlain's call he had directed the 
I United States troops, as has been seen, to prevent an}' outbreak 
of violent disorder, or insurrection. But for the hope entertained 
that Mr. Tilden would be inaugurated, the siniulacriun of govern- 
ment maintained by General Wade Hampton and his supporters 
would have dissolved and vanished. While no pressure was 
needed to induce the Governor to maintain his rights, there was 
an abundance of approbation, counsel, and exhortation to stand 

46S 



ADMINISTRA 77 ON. 469 

firm, volunteered by leading Republicans, justly supposed to 
represent the wish and sentiment of the Republican candidate for 
President, throughout that difficult and perilous period up to the 
time of the ratification by Congress of the decision of the Elec- 
toral Commission, when the succession of General Hayes to 
President Grant was assured. 

On the day of the inauguration of President Hayes, the fol- 
lowing note, written by an attached personal friend of the new 
President, was despatched to Governor Chamberlain, by a special 
messenger, the person selected for this confidential service being 
Colonel A. C. Haskell, Chairman of the Democratic State Com- 
mittee of South Carolina, the same gentleman whose misrepre- 
sentation of the situation in South Carolina before the election 
the Governor had convincingly exposed. 

Washington City, March 4, 1877. 
Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, Colmnbia, S. C. : 

My Dear Sir — I have not the honor of a personal acquaintance 
Avith you, but have learned to respect you from my knowledge of your 
reputation. I take the liberty of addressing you now, with great dis- 
trust of the propriety of doing so, prefacing it by saying that I speak 
without authority from any one, and represent only my own views. 
The situation of public affairs in South Carolina is too complicated to 
be discussed at length in a note, and yet impresses me as one that 
ought to be changed by the policy of Republican statesmen in such a 
way as not only to remove all the controversies that disturb that State, 
but to remove the embarrassments arising from it to the party in othei;' 
parts of the country. It has occurred to me to suggest, whether by 
your own concurrence and co-operation, an arrangement could not be, 
arrived at which would obviate the necessity for the use of FederaP, 
arms to support either Government, and leave that to stand which is 
able to stand of itself. Such a course would relieve the Administration 
from the necessity, so far as Executive action is concerned, of making 
any decision between the conflicting Governments, and would place 
you in a position of making the sacrifice of what you deemed your ab- 
stract rights for the sake of the peace of the community, which would 
entitle you to the gratitude not only of your own party, but the respect 
and esteem of the entire country. I trust you will pardon the liberty I 
have taken, as my motive is to promote not only the public but your 
personal good. With great respect, 

STANLEY MATTHEWS. 

Dear Governor : — I have read this letter, and conversed with 
Colonel Haskell and Senator Gordon on this subject, so interesting to 
us all. T should be very glad to aid in a solution of the difficulties of 



4/0 COVEK.VOK CHAMBERLAIN" S 

the situation, and esi)ecially to hear from you speedily. With my 
compliments to Mrs. Chamberlain, yours, very truly, 

WM. M. EVARTS. 

As Mr. Evarts was about to become Secretary of State, his 
postscript to Judge Matthews' letter gave it an Administration 
sanction. 

To this communication of a surprising import, the Governor 
replied as follows : 

Columbia, S. C, March 7, 1877. 

My Dear Sir: — Your note of the 4th instant was handed to me last 
evening by Colonel Haskell. 

I feel grateful for the interest you manifest in the public welfare 
here, as well as in my personal good. To give you my views of the 
situation here, and my duty in connection therewith, with any thing 
approaching fulness would require a conversation. I can only say here, 
in substance, that I am wholly unable to see any line of conduct on my 
part, consistent with personal honor or public duty, which would per- 
mit me to yield my claims to the Governorship. I am equally unable 
to see any course which can be pursued by the National Administration 
toward the Government here which I represent, consistent with politi- 
cal or constitutional duty, which will not require it to support, against 
violence or overthrow, the lawful Republican Government. 

T certainly wish most devoutly that I could relieve myself of this 
duty. I have been exposed to personal danger by day and night con- 
stantly for five full months, and I am wearied nearly to death ; but 
there are one or two things dearer to me than camfort or life — one is 
my honor as a public man, and another is my duty to the Republicans 
of this State. Neither of these, in my judgment, would permit me 
to accept any accommodation or compromise which was not forced 
upon me by a power which it would be idle to resist. I desire to aid 
and relieve President Hayes, but this is a life or death struggle, and I 
know that 1 should consign myself to infamy in the eyes of all Repub- 
licans here, who know the situation by fearful experience, if I were to 
accept any terms or do any act which could result in the success of the 
monstrous conspiracy against law and humanity which the Democracy 
of this State embody and represent. 

There are better ways than this to conciliate and pacify the South. 
Tet the present Administration, while firmly standing by the law and 
the right for Republicans, manifest a spirit of charity and sympathy 
for our opponents here, as countrymen and citizens, in the thousand 
ways open to an Administration, and peace will come and will abide — 
the peace of justice and law, the only peace worth fighting for. To 
permit Hampton to reap the fruits of a campaign of murder and fraud, 
so long as there remains power to prevent it, is to sanction such 
methods. 



A DMIA'IS TRA TION. 47 1 

All this I say, my dear sir, with feelings of profound respect for you, 
but as in duty bound to declare the truth as I understand it. Of one thing 
I am sure, neither you nor any man moved by a sense of justice can un- 
derstand the situation here and be willing, for any political advantage or 
freedom from embarrassment, to abandon the Republicans to the fate 
that awaits them whenever Hampton becomes the undisputed Governor 
of this State. 

I despair of being able to set our case in its true light before those 
who have had no such experience, but I do feel that if I had the privi- 
lege of personal conversation I could do much more toward it. 

I have written hurriedly, and beg that you will believe me to be, 
Yours, verv truly, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 
Hon. Stanley Matthews, 

Washington. 

Immediately upon receiving the letter of Judge Matthews, 
the Governor sent this despatch to Hon. D. T. Corbin, then in 
Washington : 

Columbia, S. C, March 6, 1877. 
To Hon. D. T. Corbin : 

I have just had a long interview with Haskell, who brings letters to 
me from Stanley Matthews and Mr. Evarts. The purport of Matthews' 
letter is that I ought to yield my rights for the good of the country. 
This is embarrassing beyond endurance. If such action is desired I 
want to know it authoritatively. I am not acting for myself, and I can 
not assume such responsibility. Please inquire and telegraph me to- 
night. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

The following note, which was made public, indicates that 

Mr. Evarts had some compunctions regarding the part he was 

acting : 

Washington, March 3th. 
Hon. J. G. Blaine : 

Dear Sir — Hon. W. M. Evarts begged me to say to you that he did not endorse 
the letter of Stanley Matthews to Governor Chamberlain to the extent implied by the 
telegram of Governor Chamberlain to me ; that the letter was presented to him by 
Mr. Haskell, of South Carolina, and he wrote upon it substantially as follows : That 
he had read the foregoing letter ; that he desired to see the troubles in South Carolina 
composed, and he desired to hear from Governor Chamberlain upon the subject. 

Very respectfully, 

D. T. CORBIN. 

It is pertinent to say in this place that this was not the 
first occasion when Senator Matthews had attempted to smooth 



\ 



472 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the way before the steps of his friend. On the 27th of February, 
while the count of the electoral vote was in progress, he, con- 
jointly with Hon. Charles Foster, Representative in Congress, 
and also an Ohio friend of the President-elect, addressed a written 
communication, in the terms following, to Senator Gordon, of 
Georgia, and Representative Brown, of Kentucky. 

We can assure you in the strongest possible manner of our great desire to have him 
[Hayes] adopt such a policy as will give to the people of the States of South Carolma 
and Louisiana the right to control their own affairs in their own way, subject only to 
the Constitution of the United States and the laws made in pursuance thereof ; and, 
to say further that, from an acquaintance with, and knowledge of. Governor Hayes 
and his views, we have the most complete confidence that such will be the policy of 
his Administration. 

The affairs of South Carolina, and of Louisiana as well, were 
promptly taken under advisement by the Administration. The 
papers of the day bear witness of the fact that the uppermost 
matter in all men's minds at Washington was their settlement. 
There were frequent conferences in which leading Southern Demo- 
crats were conspicuous ; and at length it began to be charged by 
them that the " agreement " was not being kept. The President 
promptly disclaimed having in any way committed himself to any 
agreement, alleging that whatever might have been said by his 
friends had been said on their own responsibility. As the result 
of all this, so far as it concerned South Carolina, the following let- 
ter was sent to Governor Chamberlain : 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 23, 1877. 
Sir: — I am instructed by the President to bring to your attention his 
purpose to take into immediate consideration the position of affairs in 
South Carolina, with a view of determining the course which, under 
the Constitution and laws of the United States, it may be his duty to 
take in reference to the situation in that State as he finds it upon suc- 
ceeding to the Presidency. It would give the President great pleasure 
to confer with you in person, if you shall find it convenient to visit 
Washington and shall concur with him in thinking such a conference 
the readiest and best mode of placing your views as to the political 
situation in your State before him. He would greatly prefer this direct 
commtinication of opinion and information to any other method of 
ascertaining your views upon the present condition and immediate 
prospect of public interests in South Carolina. If reasons of weight 
with you should discourage this course, the President will be glad to 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 473 

receive any communication from you in writing, or through any dele- 
gate possessing your confidence, that will convey to him your views of 
the impediments to the peaceful and orderly organization of a single 
and undisputed State Government in South Carolina, and of the best 
methods of removing them. It is the earnest desire of the President tO' 
be able to put an end as speedily as possible to all appearance of inter- 
vention of the military authority of the United States in the political 
derangements which affect the Government and afflict the people of 
South Carolina. In this desire the President cannot doubt he truly 
represents the patriotic feeling of the great body of the people of the 
United States. It is impossible that the protracted disorder in the do- 
mestic Government of any State can or should ever fail to be a matter 
of lively interest and solicitude to the people of the whole country. 
In furtherance of the prompt and safe execution of this general pur- 
pose, he invites a full communication of your opinions on the whole 
subject in such one of the proposed forms as may seem to you most 
useful. 

By direction of the President I have addressed to Hon. Wade 
Hampton a duplicate of this letter. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. K. ROGERS, 

Private Secretary. 
To Hon. Daniel H. Chamberlain. 

Upon receipt of this letter the Governor started for Washing- 
ton, where he arrived on the 27th of March. General Hampton 
followed a day or two later. When he left South Carolina he 
made the following address to his supporters in Columbia : 

I go to Washington simply to state before the President the fact that the people 
of South Carolina have elected me Governor of that State. I go there to say to him 
that we ask no recognition from any President. We claim the recognition from the 
votes of the people of the State. I go there to assure him that we are not fighting for 
party, but that we are fighting for the good of the whole country. I am going 
there to demand our rights — nothing less — and, so help me God ! to take nothing less. 

His journey was made the occasion of frequent demonstra- 
tions of partisan sympathy on the part of the communities 
through which he passed, and he repeated in various forms sub- 
stantially the same sentiment in several addresses. 

During the two or three days after Governor Chamberlain's 
arrival in Washington he had protracted interviews with the 
President, the members of the Cabinet, and prominent public 
men. The following letter to the President, embodying his view 
of the situation, was written in accordance with a request com- 
municated to him. 



474 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

Washington, March 31, 1877. 
His Excelle?icy, the President : 

Sir — I have been invited by Mr. Evarts to lay before you my views 
of the results to be expected to follow the withdrawal of the United 
iiStates forces now stationed in the Statehouse at Columbia, together 
with such statement of any reasons therefor as I may deem it proper to 
make. A brief preliminary statement of the circumstances under which 
these forces were stationed at the Statehouse will be of service in 
responding to this request. 

In October, 1876, I made an official call upon the President for the 
aid of the United States in suppressing domestic violence and insur- 
rection. In response the President ordered a considerable number of 
troops to various points within the. State, distributing them in such 
manner as seemed likely not only to suppress the actual existing vio- 
lence or insurrection, but to prevent similar outbreaks in other local- 
ities. The causes and objects of the violence now referred to were 
purely political. An effort had been made at that time by the Demo- 
cratic party to secure political control of the State by the use of 
physical force and violence. A large number of armed military com- 
panies had been organized and made effective for this work in violation 
of the laws of the State. To overcome the actual open violation 
inaugurated by these organizations, and hold them in check pending 
the election, and thus to receive a fair expression of the will of the 
people at the election in November, was the sole object of my call 
upon the President and his action in response. Under these circum- 
stances the election took place. Unfortunately the election did not 
close the political struggle, but rather intensified it. 

About the 25th of November last, on the eve of the assembling of 
the State Legislature, I deemed it my duty to call upon the President 
to assist me in protecting the State Capitol against the violence of the 
organizations already referred to, in order to permit the Legislature to 
assemble and organize itself peacefully. In response to this call the 
President gave orders which resulted in stationing a small military 
force in the Statehouse. The force was shortly after reduced to one 
company, numbering from twelve to twenty men. The single object 
in placing this force in the Statehouse, as well as the sole use which 
it served, was to secure the State Government and Legislature against 
attack and overthrow by the unlawful organizations already described. 

The effort to organize the House of Representatives resulted in the 
organization of two Houses, one of which remained in the Statehouse, 
and, in conjunction with the Senate, formed the Legislature, while the 
other occupied a hall at some distance from the Statehouse. The com- 
plete Legislature thus organized at the Statehouse in due course of 
procedure canvassed the votes for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, 
declaring me to have been elected agreeable to the provisions of the 
State Constitution. From that time until the present the presence of 
the United States troops at the Statehouse has resulted in protecting 
the Legislature, while it remained in session, and the various State 



A D MINIS TEA TION. 4/5 

ofificers associated with me, in the enjoyment of their official rights and 
the discharge of their official duties. In the meantime my present 
competitor for the office of Governor had proceeded, under a declara- 
tion of his election made by the House of Representatives in political 
affiliation with himself, to assume the office of Governor and to exercise 
its functions. Owing to causes not requiring present statement, no 
settlement of conflicting claims to the office of Governor was made 
during the term of your immediate predecessor, and thus, after your 
accession to the Presidency, the conflict remained unsettled, and the 
United States forces at the Statehouse were then, and are now, dis- 
charging the function or duty which I have already stated. 

From what has now been stated, it follows that, in my judgment, 
the United States forces at the Statehouse are there in pursuance 
and execution of a constitutional duty or practice of the Government of 
the United States in its constitutional relations to the State of South 
Carolina. They are there for the protection of the State Government, 
of which I am the head, against domestic violence and insurrection, 
not now flagrant, but held in check only by the presence of the force 
referred to. 

In the meantime the dispute respecting the office of Governor con- 
tinues, and no available power or mode of settling it has been found. 
Under these circumstances my opponents desire and demand the with- 
drawal of the United States forces from, the Statehouse, and I am 
invited to state my objection to such action on the part of your 
Excellency. 

My first objection is that the withdrawal of these forces from the 
Statehouse would be a withdrawal of support and aid against domestic 
violence by the Government of the United States to which the State 
and State Government which I represent are entitled under the Con- 
stitution and laws of the United States. The claim here made does 
not, in my judgment, involve an assertion of a claim to the permanent 
presence and aid of the United States in upholding a State Govern- 
ment. The cause of the present condition of affairs is the disputed 
title to the office of Governor. Two rival Governments are contending 
for possession of the Executive office and its property, in order that 
they may possess the proper facilities for exercising the office. If the 
Government of the United States cannot properly, under the present 
circumstances, determine which of the two contending State Govern- 
ments is the lawful one, the forces at the Statehouse are not, in any 
proper sense, acting to the disparagement of the rights of either of the 
contending claimants, but, on the contrary, they are holding the rival 
parties in an attitude in which each can pursue its proper remedies and 
seek a proper settlement of its claims. If, on the other hand, it 
is within the power and duty of the Government of the United States 
to determine, as a political fact and question, which of the two rival 
State Governments is the lawful one, and to confirm its political con- 
duct to such a determination, then at whatever moment such a deter- 
mination shall be reached and announced, all probable necessity for 



476 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the actual presence of armed forces of the United States to further sus- 
tain the Government, thus decided to be the lawful Government of the 
State, will cease. If further necessity for aid from the Government of 
the United States shall arise, such aid will be demanded, and extended 
or denied under the well known provisions of the Constitution of the 
United States. 

My next objection to the withdrawal of the United States forces 
from the Statehouse is that such withdrawal at the present time, pend- 
ing the decision of the question of validity of one or the other of the 
two Governments will be a practical decision in favor of my opponent. 
By this I mean that my opponent is at this moment fully prepared, in 
point of physical strength, to overthrow the Government which I 
represent. Why is this ? The cause is honorable to the political party 
which I represent. They are law-abiding ; they are patient under the 
infliction of wrong ; they are slow to resort to violence, even in defence 
of their rights ; they have trusted that a decent regard for law, a decent 
respect for rights conferred by the Government of the United States, 
would restrain their opponents from the violence which has now over- 
taken them. They know now that they can expect from their political 
enemies neither justice nor mercy. They have relied with unshaken 
faith upon the protection of the United States. If, therefore, the 
United States forces now stationed at the Statehouse shall be with- 
drawn, they will regard that act, under the circumstances now existing, 
as leaving them exposed to the power and vengeance of the armed, 
illegal, military organizations which cover the State and constitute the 
political machinery of the Democratic party. They will regard that 
act — I speak now only of the fact — as a declaration by the United 
States that no further protection can be hoped for except such as they 
hold in their own hands. They cannot alone maintain the unequal 
contest. I certainly cannot advise further resistance. That which 
would be an imperative duty under other circumstances would become 
madness now. 

If it be said in reply that such use of the United States forces is 
merely giving a political advantage to one of the two contending par- 
ties in the assertion of its claims, I answer that, in my view, it is rather 
the preservation to each party of their right to a chance in the struggle 
if it must go on, or if the Government which I represent is the lawful 
Government it is the protection of the Government against domestic 
violence in accordance with the Constitution. 

My opponent demands the withdrawal of the United States forces 
from the Statehouse. It will be of service in judging what results will 
follow compliance with this demand to ask why the demand is made. 
I suppose neither courtesy nor charity will warrant the suggestion that 
it arises from a zealous regard for constitutional limitations on the part 
of my opponent. On the other hand, the demand is plainly made for 
the purposes of political advantage in the present struggle. What is 
this advantage ? It has been suggested it is to enable my opponent to 
pursue his legal remedies in the premises. It is a sufficient answer to 



ADMINISTRA HON. 477 

this to say that no hindrance of any kind now exists to the peaceful 
and complete enforcement of all legal remedies whatever. Every legal 
right and remedy which belongs to my opponent under any circum- 
stances is within his unobstructed reach to-day, and has been on all 
days. This fact points at once to the conclusion that in demanding the 
withdrawal of the troops from the Statehouse my opponent does not 
desire thereby to secure his own right by lawful means or peaceful 
agencies, but to rob me and my associates and constituents of our rights 
by unlawful means and violent agencies. 

If reference be made to the profession of those who demand the 
withdrawal of the troops, that they seek only to secure their rights by 
lawful means, I respectfully answer that I am familiar with such pro- 
fessions. They have been made with endless iteration during a cam- 
paign of unprecedented length, marked from the opening to the close 
by every degree and form of physical violence. To one not familiar 
with the condition of South Carolina, the statements I have now made 
may seem extravagant. I refer for confirmation of all I have stated to 
the testimony taken by the Congressional committees during the past 
winter, and I affirm that my present acquaintance with the facts com- 
pels me to say that this testimony falls short of the truth. The Republi- 
cans of South Carolina have carried on a struggle up to the present time 
for the preservation of their rights ; their hope has been that they might 
continue to live under a free Government. The withdrawal of the 
troops from the Statehouse will close the struggle, — will close it in 
defeat to a large majority of the people of the State, in the sacrifice of 
their rights, in the complete success of violence and fraud as agents in 
reaching political results. 

To restate the results which will follow the withdrawal of the troops 
from the Statehouse I say : 

First — It will remove the protection absolutely necessary to enable 
the Republicans to assert and enforce their claim to the Government 
of the State. 

Second — It will enable the Democrats to remove all effective opposi- 
tion to the illegal military forces under the control of my opponent. 

Thii'd — It will place all the agencies for maintaining the present 
lawful Government of the State in the practical possession of the 
Democrats, through the admission it will require. 

Fourth — It will lead to the quick consummation of a political out- 
rage against which I have felt and now feel it to be my solemn duty to 
struggle and protest so long as the faintest hope of success can be seen. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

The President and Cabinet had also before them for considera- 
tion the following propositions, previously submitted, looking to 
the ascertainment of the legal result of the disputed election in 
South Carolina by a method somewhat similar to that by which 



478 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

the disputed right of the President to his office had been deter- 
mined : 

To the President : 

The RepubHcans of South Carohna are actuated now, as at all times 
heretofore, by an earnest desire to adjust all political differences as to 
lawful government in that State upon the basis of justice and right. 
To that end the undersigned now submit the following propositions, 
agreeing to abide by the results thus to be reached : 

First, All the returns of election for Governor and Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, together with all the papers connected therewith, shall be sub- 
mitted to a Commission of five persons, who shall have power, upon said 
returns and papers, and upon such other evidence, if any, as said com- 
mission may obtain relating to said election, and to any allegations of 
fraud or irregularities which may be made, to find and declare the 
result of the election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor ; or — 

Secotid, All the returns of the election of members of the House of 
Representatives, together with all the papers connected therewith, shall 
be submitted to a Commission of five persons, who shall have power 
upon said returns and papers, and upon such other evidence, if any, as 
said Commission may obtain relating to said election and to any alle- 
gations of fraud and irregularities which may be made, to find and de- 
clare what persons have been duly elected members of the House of 
Representatives, and such persons shall assemble and organize as a 
legislative body, and thereupon the returns for Governor and Lieuten- 
ant Governor shall be submitted to the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives so constituted, and the election of Governor and Lieutenant 
Governor shall thereupon be ascertained and declared in the manner 
provided for by the Constitution of the State. 

Respecting the manner of appointing said Commission, the under- 
signed submit the following propositions : First, the Commission shall 
be appointed by the President of the United States in such manner as 
he shall deem best ; or, second, two persons shall be chosen by each 
party respectively, which persons, with the Chief Justice of the United 
States, shall constitute the Commission ; or, third, two persons shall be 
chosen by each party respectively, and the fifth person shall be drawn 
by the other four by lot or otherwise, as they may deem best. 

The foregoing propositions are presented solely with a view to a 
practical adjustment of the present difhculties, and the undersigned, 
on behalf of the Republicans of South Carolina, while submitting them, 
affirm that their course heretofore in relation to the election of Gov- 
ernor and Lieutenant Governor, and the organization of the House of 
Representatives, has been strictly just and legal, and that the State 
Government which the undersigned represent is in all respects the law- 
ful and only lawful Government of South Carolina. 

JOHN T. PATTERSON. 
DANIEL H. CHAMBERLAIN. 
DAVID T. CORBIN. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 4/9 

Governor Chamberlain's letter was read in a meeting of the 
Cabinet held on the 2d of April. The correspondent of the New 
York Times sent the following account of subsequent proceedings 
to that paper : 

After freely discussing the foregoing paper, it was unanimously decided that the 
Federal Government has no constitutional right to intnide the army into the official 
headquarters of a State Government, except to quell riot or suppress domestic dis- 
turbance when the Government of a State is powerless to protect itself. This ex- 
ception, in the opinion of the Cabinet, does not now apply to South Carolina ; and 
the determination of the President, therefore, to withdraw the troops from the State- 
house, was unanimously approved, and Secretary McCrary was instructed to issue an 
order in accordance with this decision. The Secretary was engaged this afternoon 
in preparing the necessary. order, which will probably be promulgated to-morrow, 
although the actual removal of troops will not take place until after the return of 
Hampton and Chamberlain to South Carolina. 

The order will recite that there being no domestic violence, and no apprehension 
of any, the parties on both sides having given solemn pledges that none is intended, 
and having announced their intentions to amicably settle the dispute before the 
Courts, in accordance with the laws of the State, the President has no alternative but 
to abstain from interference. Hampton and Chamberlain were both notified of this 
decision of the Cabinet. Hampton had an interview to-day with Postmaster General 
Key and other members of the Cabinet, to whom he reported his assurances that he 
would not resort to violence, but would proceed against Chamberlain in the regular 
manner through the Courts ; and until the question can be judicially settled he will 
allow no interference with Chamberlain or his supporters in their occupation of the 
Statehouse. Hampton says that as soon as the troops are withdrawn from the State- 
house he will station his own officers about it, and permit no one to interfere in any 
way with Chamberlain until the controversy shall be regularly decided by due process 
of law. 

On the next day it was determined in a Cabinet meeting that 
the troops should be withdrawn on the loth instant. Governor 
Hampton had pledged himself in a communication to the Presi- 
dent not only, as stated above, that no violence should be used 
to oust Governor Chamberlain and the other State officers, but 
that the constitutional rights of all classes of citizens should be 
respected, and no violence done to any. 

The correspondent of the Boston Daily Advertiser, in his de- 
spatch of this date, said : 

Nothing but praise is heard from members of the Cabinet of the manner in 
which Chamberlain has acted during the progress of this settlement. He has shown 
no bitterness, and while protesting against the policy laid down, has been on the very 
best of terms with the President and all the members of the Cabinet, and conceding 



480 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

to them the purest and most patriotic motives in their actions. Chamberlain has 
said to all who called on him to-day that it will be useless to make a further contest, 
and that he shall return home and advise his friends to succumb to the inevitable, 
and to do what they can to aid Hampton in trying to administer the duties of Gov- 
ernor in an honest manner. Chamberlain does not hesitate to say that he believes 
the Republicans of the State cannot recover from the defeat which they have just 
received, and that hereafter South Carolina will be a Democratic State. 

The expected order for the withdrawal of the troops from the 
Statehouse at Columbia on the loth of April was promulgated 
in due time. Governor Chamberlain thereupon published the 
following address, and withdrew from office. 

To the Republicans of South Carolma : 

By your choice I was made Governor of this State in 1874. At the 
election on the 7th of November last, I was again, by your votes, 
elected to the same office. My title to the ofifice, upon every legal and 
moral ground, is to-day clear and perfect. By the recent decision and 
action of the President of the United States, I find myself unable longer 
to maintain my official rights, and I hereby announce to you that I am 
unwilling to prolong a struggle which can only bring further suffering 
upon those who engage in it. 

In announcing this conclusion, it is my duty to say for you, that the 
Republicans of South Carolina entered upon their recent political 
struggle for the maintenance of their political and civil rights. Consti- 
tuting, beyond question, a large majority of the lawful voters of the 
State, you allied yourselves with that political party whose central and 
inspiring principle has hitherto been the civil and political freedom of 
all men uiider the Constitution and laws of our country. By heroic 
efforts and sacrifices which the just verdict of history will rescue from 
the cowardly scorn now cast upon them by political placemen and traders, 
you secured the electoral vote of South Carolina for Hayes and Wheeler. 
In accomplishing this result, you became the victims of every form of 
persecution and injury. From authentic evidence it is shown that not 
less than one hundred of your number were. murdered because they 
were faithful to their principles and exercised rights solemnly guaran- 
teed to them by the nation. You were denied employment, driven 
from your homes, robbed of the earnings of years of honest industry, 
hunted for your lives like wild beasts, your families outraged and scat- 
tered, for no offence except your peaceful and firm determination to 
exercise your political rights. You trusted, as you had a right to trust, 
that if by such efforts you established the lawful supremacy of your 
political party in the nation, the Government of the United States, in 
the discharge of its constitutional duty, would protect the lawful Gov- 
ernment of the State from overthrow at the hands of your political 
enemies. From causes patent to all men, and questioned by none who 
regard truth, you have been unable to overcome the unlawful combina- 
tions and obstacles which have opposed the practical- supremacy of the 



A D MINIS TRA TION. 48 1 

Government which your votes have established. For many weary 
months you have waited for your deliverance. While the long struggle 
for the Presidency was in progress, you were exhorted by every repre- 
sentative and organ of the National Republican Party, to keep your 
allegiance true to that party, in order that your deliverance might be 
certain and complete. 

Not the faintest whisper of the possibility of disappointment in these 
hopes and promises ever reached you while the struggle was pending. 
To-day — April 10, 1877 — by the order of the President whom your 
votes alone rescued from overwhelming defeat, the Government of the 
United States abandons you, deliberately withdraws from you its sup- 
port, with the full knowledge that the lawful Government of the State 
will be speedily overthrown. By a new interpretation of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States at variance alike with the previous practice of 
the Government and with the decisions of the Supreme Court, the Ex- 
ecutive of the United States evades the duty of ascertaining which of 
two rival State Governments is the lawful one, and by the withdrawal 
of troops now protecting the State from domestic violence, abandons 
the lawful State Government to a struggle with insurrectionary forces 
too powerful to be resisted. The grounds of policy upon which such 
action is defended are startling. 

It is said that the North is weary of the long Southern troubles. It 
was weary, too, of the long troubles which sprung from the stupendous 
crime of chattel slavery, and longed for repose. It sought to cover them 
from sight by wicked compromises with the wrong which disturbed its 
peace, but God held it to its duty until, through a conflict which rocked 
and agonized the nation, the great crime was put away and freedom was 
ordained for all. 

It is said that if a majority of a State are unable by physical force 
to maintain their rights, they must be left to political servitude. Is this 
a doctrine ever before heard in our history ? If it shall prevail, its 
consequences will not long be confined to South Carolina and Louisi- 
ana. It is said that a Democratic House of Representatives will refuse 
an appropriation for the army of the United States, if the lawful Gov- 
ernment of South Carolina is maintained by the military forces. Sub- 
mission to such coercion marks the degeneracy of the political party or 
people which endures it. A Government worthy the name, a political 
party fit to wield power, never before blanched at such a threat. But 
the edict has gone forth. No arguments or considerations which your 
friends could present have sufficed to avert the disaster. 

No effective means of resistance to the consummation of the wrong 
are left. The struggle can be prolonged. My strict legal rights are, 
of course, wholly unaffected by the action of the President. No Court 
of the State has jurisdiction to pass upon the title of my office. No 
lawful Legislature can be convened except at my call. If the use of 
these pov/ers promised ultimate success to our cause, I should not 
shrink from any sacrifices which might confront me. It is a cause in 
which by the light of reason and conscience a man might well lay down 
his life. 



48 2 GO VERNOR CHA iMBERLA JN ' S 

But, to my mind, my present responsibility involves the considera- 
tion of the effect of my action upon those whose representative I am. 
I have hitherto been willing to ask you. Republicans, to risk all dangers 
and endure all hardships until relief should come from the Govern- 
ment of the United States. That relief will never come. I cannot ask 
you to follow me further. In my best judgment I can no longer serve 
you by further resistance to the impending calamity. 

With gratitude to God for the measure of endurance with which He 
has hitherto inspired me, with gratitude to you for your boundless con- 
fidence in me, with profound admiration for your matchless fidelity to 
the cause in which we have struggled, I now announce to you and to 
the people of the State that I shall no longer actively assert my right to 
the office of Governor of South Carolina. 

The motives and purposes of the President of the United States in 
the policy which compels me to my present course are unquestionably 
honorable and patriotic. I devoutly pray that events may vindicate 
the wisdom of his action, and that peace, justice, freedom, and pros- 
perity may hereafter be the portion of every citizen of South Carolina. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor of South Carolina. 

• With the Governor's Address the following documents were 
published : 

Executive Department, 

Office of Attorney General, 
Columbia, S. C, April lo, 1877. 
To His Excellency^ D. H. Chambo'lam, Governor of South Carolina, 
Columbia, S. C. : 

Dear Sir — Recurring to the views severally expressed by us dur- 
ing the personal conference which we had the honor to hold \vith you 
yesterday in regard to the political complications which have grown 
out of the late canvass in this State, we beg leave to apprise you 
formally of the conclusions we have reached, after mature deliberation 
and the gravest reflection which we have been able to bestoAv upon the 
subject. 

Whilst we are no less inspired with admiration for the dignified and 
resolute manner in which you have consistently maintained your claims 
to the gubernatorial chair, by virtue of the election held in November 
last, than we are solemnly impressed with the validity of your title to 
the office, we are unanimous in the belief that to prolong the contest, 
in the absence of that mor^JLjud to which we feel ourselves and 
our party justly entitled at tTie hands of a National Administration in- 
stalled, in large measure, through the same agencies which are now 
held to be insufficient for our maintenance, will be to incur the respon- 
sibility of keeping alive partisan prejudices which are in the last degree 
detrimental to the best interests of the people of the State, and perhaps 
of precipitating a physical conflict that could have but one result to 
our defenceless constituency. W' e cannot afford to contribute, however 



ADMINJSTRA TIOX. 483 

indirectly, to such a catastrophe, even in the advocacy of what we 
know to be our right. 

We are agreed, therefore, in counselHng you to discontine the strug- 
gle for the occupancy of the gubernatorial chair, convinced as we are 
that, in view of the disastrous odds to which its maintenance has been 
subjected by the action of the National Administration, your retire- 
ment will involve no surrender of principle, nor its motive be misap- 
prehended by the great body of that political party to which, in com- 
mon with ourselves, you are attached, and whose success in the past in 
this State has been ennobled by your intelligent and unselfish services. 
We have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 

ROBERT B. ELLIOTT, Attornev General. 

JOHN R. TOLBERT, Superintendent of Education. 

JAMES KENNEDY, Adjutant and Inspector General. 

THOMAS C. DUNN, Comptroller General. 

F. L. CARDOZO, Treasurer. 

H. E. HAYNE, Secretary of State. 



State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, April 10, 1877. 
Sir — Having learned that you now purpose to turn over to me the 
Executive Chamber, with the records and papers belonging to the Execu- 
tive Ofifice, now in your possession, I beg to inform you that I will send 
a proper officer to receive the same at any hour you may indicate as 
most convenient to yourself. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) WADE HAMPTON, 

Governor. 
Hon. D. H. Chamberlain. 



State of South Carolina, 

Executive Chamber, 
Columbia, S. C, April 10, 1877. 
Sir — Replying to your note of this date, I have to say that my 
Private Secretary will meet such officer as you may designate, at twelve 
meridian to-morrow, at the Executive Chamber, for the purpose indi- 
cated in your note. 

Very respectfully, 
(Signed) D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, 

Governor S. C. 
Hon. Wade Hampton. 

The following comment on the abdication is taken from the 

editorial columns of the Boston Daily Advertiser : 

The reports current of Governor Chamberlain's intention to prolong a hopeless 
struggle for the benefit of those who desire that tlie Administration should be antag- 



484 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

onized, and have not seen the wisdom of openly opposing it themselves, turn out, as 
we suspected they would, to be groundless. Probably the mistake was made in 
supposing that Chamberlain purposed doing what the Hampton crowd feared he 
would do, and what weak malignants like Patterson assumed he would do. His 
conduct has been exactly consistent with what he uniformly told the President and 
all others who consulted him in Washington concerning his intentions. And there 
never was any good reason to believe it would be different. From beginning to end 
he has acted the manly part. His sincerity, courage, and wisdom are apparent to the 
country. 

His letter announcing to those who elected him his retirement from the contest is 
characteristic of the man. He asserts what he believes to be the right bravely and 
with a confidence which has its root in sincere conviction. He arraigns what appears 
to him to be the mistake of those who have decided this matter for him sharply, as 
one who feels that he owes allegiance to truth rather than to party chiefs, however 
strongly sustained. Speaking for himself, and for the people whom he thinks the 
Government has betrayed, he does much less than justice to its motives, and holds 
the President and his advisers responsible for results which, under the Constitution, 
they have neither the right nor the power to control. 

But let it be remembered that he has stood for years in the thick of an unequal fight, 
contending with great courage against a powerful, well organized, and desperate op- 
position in front, and at the same time maintaining a not less watchful and vigorous 
conflict in the party of his supporters, to repress their ignorant and sometimes vicious 
excesses, and make them worthy of the cause in which they are enlisted. He won 
the hard fight, and when all the resources of fraud and intrigue were employed to 
prevent the consummation of the victory, he baffled the conspirators. It was natural 
that he should expect the support of the national authority against attempts to oust 
him. 

I'ut objects and principles of paramount importance have made it necessary to 
throw upon the people themselves the responsibility for their own government, and 
withdraw the military support on which he was obliged to rely. That he should be 
bitterly disappointed is natural. That he does not surrender his judgment at the 
same time he surrenders his office, proves his own confidence in its correctness. 
That, in spite of his sense of wrong, he still bears frank testimony to the honorable 
and patriotic purpose of the President, mistaken as he believes it to be, and prays that 
the results may vindicate its wisdom, shows that he is capable of a generous renun- 
ciation. 

This protracted struggle was for a weak and ignorant race, whom he hoped to be 
instrumental in leading to a right appreciation of their duties and responsibilities as 
citizens vested with equal political rights. He has not the opportunity to complete 
his work, but it does not follow that what he has done will be without large and per- 
manent results, which may appear sooner than we think. South Carolina has passed 
under the control of the men who, by leading the State into rebellion, brought upon 
her extreme humiliation. For generations her politicians had been extreme and 
malignant in their antagonism to every maxim of freedom. The men who now come 
into power are pledged as strongly as professions and promises can bind men to rule 
justly, and to defend and promote the equal rights of all, — white or black. If they 
keep their plighted faith ihey will in time dissipate the fears of those who now regard 



A DM IN IS TRA TION. 485 

the experiment with anxiety, not without reasonable cause. And we venture to say 
that there will be no man in the State or in the nation more rejoiced to see South 
Carolina wisely governed in the spirit of impartial liberty than Governor Chamberlain. 

The following account of the last scene in a long and exciting 
drama is from the Charleston News and Courier, a despatch from 
its correspondent in Columbia : 

Columbia, April nth. 

The transfer of the Government of South Carolina, with all the momentous inter- 
ests involved in that proceeding, was effected to-day with as little pomp and circum- 
stances as though the two prominent characters, parties to the ceremony, were 
exchanging photographs or jack-knives. These two gentlemen were Messrs. Wade 
H. Manning and C. J. Babbitt, Governor Hampton's and Mr. Chamberlain's respec- 
tive secretaries. 

Mr. Chamberlain left his office a few minutes after 11 A.M., and after bidding 
farewell to his officers and clerks in the Capitol, entered his carriage, in company with 
Mr. J. G. Thompson, and was driven through Main Street to his residence. The j 
streets were densely crowded at the time by thousands who had assembled to witness ! 
a circus pageant which was then passing, and the carriage picked its way slowly along 
almost unnoticed. The cold, handsome face of the ex-Governor might have been 
seen for a moment as he went by, but if he felt any natural emotion in view of his 
suddenly altered circumstances, no evidence of it could be detected in the expression 
of his pale, quiet features. The familiar portfolio, without which he has never, 
or seldom, been seen, in his daily journey to and from the vStatehouse, was as usual 
under his arm, and even while you noted these slight details he was gone. 

At five minutes to 12 m. Mr. Manning presented himself at the Executive office 
and was politely met by Mr. Babbitt, of whom he requested the surrender of the Gov- 
ernor's office in the name of Governor Hampton. Mr. Babbitt replied that he was 
directed by Governor Chamberlain to make the transfer at twelve precisely, and would 
do so when that hour had arrived. As the first stroke of noon was heard, Mr. Bab- 
bitt handed over the seal and keys of the office, accompanying the action with the 
usual verbal formula, and Governor Hampton was in possession of his office. A few- 
minutes more were spent in explaining the details of books, papers, etc., and both 
gentlemen retired from the premises, leaving the office locked, as it will remain until the 
key is turned to admit Governor Hampton himself. He will probably take possession 
in person to-morrow. A few idlers were present about the building, but only one or 
two gentlemen were allowed to be present at the ceremony as witnesses. 

The day has been strangely quiet, barring the circus, after the events of yesterday. 
There have been no flags displayed, no hurrahs heard, nothing beyond a quiet, satis- 
fied acceptance of the new era so long expected, so often despaired of, but at last 
arrived. 

I have been reliably informed that Mr. Chamberlain's sudden change of purpose 
was brought about by the earnest representations and advice of his chief executive 
officers, whose names appeared attached to the letter addressed to him and published 
in the News and Courier yesterday. The cogent arguments used are fully recounted 
in Mr. Chamberlain's own letter published at the same time. It is said his final de- 



486 GOVERXOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

termination was arrived at only after long deliberation,' and that he finally yielded 
directly in the teeth of most urgent advices from Washington to stick to his first reso- 
lution. 

The other officers in the Statehouse consider it their duty to hold their ground, 
subject to the decision of the Supreme Court. I do not think they care or hope to 
remain very much longer. The Democratic contestants for the same offices will move 
into the Capitol at once, and occupy others of the numerous vacant rooms therein 
until duly recognized. 



This story of a brave attempt, a good fight, and a baffling, 
cruel defeat, is told. So ended Governor Chamberlain's Adminis- 
tration in South Carolina. From first to last it was a battle 
waged with dauntless energy and fortitude for two great causes 
which he represented with an ardor and fidelity equal towards 
each — the cause of equal rights and the cause of HONEST 
GOVERNMENT. From beginning to end it illustrates the candor 
of his avowal of his ambition and hope which is placed on the 
title-page of this volume, and not less the sincerity of his declara- 
tion : " Public duty is my only master." 

His misfortune was that so many of the party upon whose 
support he depended did not perceive that their misdoing would 
invite their destruction. If they had cooperated in advancing 
the reforms he toiled to achieve, the reorganization of the Demo- 
cratic party for the purpose and on the basis proposed by the 
" Straight-out " leaders, would have been impossible. Their per- 
sistent, vicious folly afforded the occasion and the pretext wanted 
by their political opponents to gain party ascendancy. They 
made it impracticable for the wisest and most capable political 
leader the Republican party in the Southern States ever had, to 
save them from political overthrow. Their greedy abuse of power 
annulled the high and hopeful endeavor to establish their politi- 
cal freedom on a foundation both honorable and permanent. By 
the .same acts they made it ea.sy for their enemies at home to 
attack them, and hard for their allies in the North to defend 

' There was no foundation, except in the imagination of fearful persons, for the 
assumption that Governor Chamberlain would attempt forcibly to prevent what had 
been decreed. He announced before leaving Washington that he should not longer 
resist the inevitable end. No one knew better than he that those who advised him 
to continue the fight were powerless to render effectual assistance under existing cir- 
cumstances. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 487 

them. Thus they prepared the catastrophe which overwhelmed 
reformers and corruptionists in a common and indiscriminating 
disappointment. 

The two and one third years of Governor Chamberlain's Ad- 
ministration, years burdened with responsibiHties, perplexed with 
anxieties, harassed with care, vexation, and strife, and crowded 
with exacting duties, must have been for him wearisome years. 
How he endured all and how he acquitted himself will be judged 
finally by the full record, substantially included in this volume, as 
it shall interpret itself to the intelligence and the judgment of 
men capable of candid appreciation. It is now first presented in 
its entirety to the contemplation and scrutiny of his countrymen, 
not without a hope that when party prejudices, still violent, shall 
be as obsolete as is the factional bitterness of Washington's Ad- 
ministration, the truth-loving and philosophical historian of these 
troublous times may find in it (if perchance some library preserve 
a dusty copy) material of worth and usefulness in his labor of 
tracing the springs and impulses of the developed greatness of 
that New South which had its birth into freedom by painful 
throes of civil war and political reconstruction. 




APPENDIX. 



I. Personal Statements of Governor Chamberlain concerning Reports and Charges. 
Affecting His Personal Honor and Integrity in Public Life. 

1. Letter " To The Public," August 19, 1874. 

2. Letter to the New York Tribune, October 12, 1874. 

3. Statement respecting Niles G. Parker's Charges, 1877. 

n. Indictment of Governor Chamberlain in South Carolina, and the Proceedings 
Thereupon. 

III. Letters of Governor Chamberlain Regarding His Administration and Re- 

irement. 

1. Letter to William Lloyd Garrison, June 11, 1877. 

2. Letter to Hon. B. O. Duncan, August 25, 1882. 

IV. The Southern Policy of President Hayes Discussed by Governor Chamberlain 

in an Address at Woodstock, Conn., July 4, 1S77. 

V. Editorial Article from the Charleston News and Courier, May 6, 1876, on Gov- 

ernor Chamberlain's Address at Greenville, S. C, on Classical Studies. 

VI. Biographical Sketch. 




489 



I. 



THE CHARGES AFFECTING GOVERNOR CHAMBER. 

LAIN'S INTEGRITY AND' HONOR, AND HIS 

ANSWER THERETO. 

Various references appear in the preceding pages to charges 
affecting the personal and official integrity of Governor Cham- 
berlain. They all relate to a period prior to his Administration 
as Governor, and form no proper part of the record of that Ad- 
ministration. But inasmuch as these charges have pursued him 
since his retirement from office, the following public statements 
embodying the charges, and his answers to them are here given. 

The following letter was published in the Columbia Union- 
Herald in the summer of 1874 : 

To THE Public : 

It is now nearly two years since I ceased to be a State officer. Dur- 
ing this interval I have closely followed my profession, taking no part |' 
whatever in public or political affairs, and seeking no return to official 
position. No man hving has ever heard me, directly or mdirectly, / 
solicit office ; nor can a single act of mine during the last two years be ! 
pointed out which could reasonably indicate that I sought any office m 
this State. Notwithstanding my constant and studious avoidance of 
politics, many friends have, from time to time, expressed their desire 
that I should be a candidate for the office of Governor. Withm the 
last few months a large number of prominent gentlemen of the Repub- 
lican party have urged that candidacy upon me as a matter of grave 
and urgent duty which I owed to the State as well as to my political 
party I have laid before them my reasons for not wishing to share in 
political affairs at the present time, and have earnestly endeavored to 
show them that others could serve the public better than I m the office 
of Governor. 

Their judgment has apparently remained unchanged, and i have, up 
to the present time, simply maintained this position— that if the Re- 
pubhcan party should, when duly assembled in State Convention, tender 
me its nomination for Governor, I should not decline it. 

In that sense, and to that extent only, I am a candidate now. I have 

491 



492 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

not sought or desired the office. It is a burden from which I shrink,- 
and which I shall take up only at the unsolicited call of the best men 
of my party as expressed in the coming State Convention. 

Such being my unvarying attitude toward this question, I have, as I 
think reasonably, felt no solicitude to repel adverse criticisms, or to 
deny or disprove charges made against me for the purpose of defeating 
my nomination. I have now lived in this State for nine years, and for 
the last six years this community ' has had full opportunity to note my 
personal character and to estimate my worth as a man and a citizen. 
I am one of those who still believe, amidst the fiercest storms of de- 
traction, that an honorable and correct personal life is the best answer 
to all such charges as are now hurled at me. Of this I have constant 
and touching evidence in the numberless assurances which come to me 
from those who are in strenuous political opposition to me, that the 
charges now made against me and the attempt to drag me down to the 
level of others whom I might name, are regarded by all who know me 
as a temporary expedient to accomplish a political end. Personally, I 
am wholly indifferent to the charges recently made against me. Those 
who care to examine them will find them to be baseless, and those who 
do not care to examine them are not objects of anxiety to me. I am 
sufficiently an egotist to firmly believe that no man who knows me be- 
lieves that I am, in public or private affairs, a dishonest man. 

I have yielded to the wishes of my friends in this case, however, to 
the e.^tent of now setting forth, briefly and emphatically, my answer to 
the charges which have recently been put forth against me as a candi- 
date. 

The charges, so far as they have taken an answerable shape, con- 
cern my actions as a member of various public Boards or Commissions 
from 1868 to 1872. During that period I was, ex officio^ a member of 
the Financial Board, of the Board known as the Commissioners of the 
Sinking Fund, of the Advisory Board of the Land Commission, and of 
the Board to take charge of the congressional land scrip for an agricul- 
tural college. 

In connection with the first-named Board, one of the charges most 
constantly repeated is, that I was specially responsible for the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Kimpton as the Financial Agent of the State in New York. 
Beyond the single fact that Mr. Kimpton was a college classmate of 
mine, there is not the slightest ground for such a statement. Mr. 
Kimpton came to this State without my knowledge, and without any 
reference to me or to any employment by the State. I had not seen 
him nor communicated with him since leaving college. He brought 
his own recommendations, made his own impressions, and was never 
urged by me upon the other members of the Board. Acting upon what 
I regarded as good evidence of his capacity and character, I voted for 
him, in common with the other members of the Board, and that is the 
full extent of my responsibility for his appointment. That the Finan- 
cial Board acted reasonably in this matter can now be shown by 

' Columbia, S. C. 



ADMINISTRA TION. 493 

numerous commendations of Mr. Kimpton's management during the 
first three years of his agency, by the highest financial authorities in 
New York, as well as by the very great success which he certainly 
achieved in many respects during those years. I am not called upon, • 
in this connection, to defend the entire transactions of the Financial 
Agent, but I do affirm that the Financial Board were warranted, by 
good and sufficient evidence, in the appointment of Mr. Kimpton, and 
that I had no larger share of influence in his appointment than each of 
the other members of the Board. 

Another charge made against me is, that as a member of the Finan- 
cial Board, and as Attorney General, I am specially responsible for the 
issue of what are known as the "conversion" bonds. This charge 
seems to rest chiefly on the fact that I was a member of that Board, 
and it is, therefore, needful to refer to the constitution and powers of 
that Board. 

The Financial Board were never charged with any duty in connec- 
tion with the issue of bonds of any kind. 

By the Act of the General Assembly to issue bonds to redeem the 
''bills receivable," the Governor was authorized to borrow a certain 
sum of money. The bonds were to be signed by the Governor and 
countersigned by the Treasurer, and sealed with the seal of the State. 
The only duty placed by this Act upon the Attorney General was to 
fix, together with the Governor and Treasurer, the price at which the 
bonds should be sold, and the time for the redemption of the "bills 
receivable." Every bond issued under this Act was signed by the Gov- 
ernor and Treasurer, and sealed by the Secretary of State, and the 
Attorney General had no part or duty in the issue or execution of a 
single bond. 

The same is true of the bonds issued under the Act to authorize a 
loan to pay interest on the public debt. By this Act the sole duty of 
the Financial Board in connection with the bonds was to fix the price 
at which they should be sold. 

The next Act which authorized the issue of bonds was the " Act for 
the relief of the Treasury." Under this Act the sole duty of the 
Attorney General was, in conjunction with the Governor, Comptroller 
General, and Treasurer, to give directions for the use of the bonds 
issued under this Act as collateral security, and to fix the price 
at which they should be sold. 

The " Act for the conversion of State securities " imposed no duty 
and conferred no power on any officer except the Treasurer, who was 
charged with the work of conversion, and the Governor, who was to 
sign and the Treasurer to countersign the conversion bonds. 

The four Acts now specified are all the Acts under which it is pre- 
tended that the Financial Board had any powers, or has exercised any 
functions. 

The Attorney General had no duty or power in the issuing of 
bonds ; neither had the Financial Board. 

But it has been said that I gave an opinion, as Attorney General, 



494 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

to Mr. Cardozo, then Secretary of State, in which I claimed authority 
for the Financial Board to issue bonds without limit. As this alleged 
opinion has recently been made the ground for fixing upon me the 
" sole responsibility for the issue " of the conversion bonds, it is neces- 
sary for me to state ])recisely what that opinion contained. 

Mr. Cardozo applied to me to know whether his action in sealing 
bonds was merely ministerial or not, and whether by sealing bonds he 
incurred any legal responsibility for the use made of such bonds by the 
Treasurer or the Financial Agent. To those inquiries I replied that 
1 thought his duty in the matter of sealing bonds was merely ministe- 
rial, and that he was not in any way responsible for the issue of bonds 
to the Financial Agent, or the use he might make of them. In that 
opinion I asserted no authority in the Financial Board to issue bonds 
at all, nor did I say a word which could be construed into a claim, as 
has been recently charged, that it was Mr. Cardozo's " duty to seal as 
many bonds as the Treasurer, instructed by the Financial Board, re- 
quested." 

I can further say that 1 believe from all the knowledge which I pos- 
sess, that the action of the other members of the Financial Board, both as 
members of that Board and as individual State officers, in connection 
with the bonds of the State, was dictated by honest motives, and was 
intended to avoid the very results which finally took place. 

Another charge is that, as a member of the Financial Board, I 
joined in directing the Financial Agent to make fictitious entries in his 
books so as to disguise the affairs of the agency. I take it upon my- 
self to say that the Financial Board never gave such instructions, nor 
any instructions which were intended to deceive or mislead the public 
in regard to the affairs of the agency. So far as I am aware, the books 
of the Financial Agent have at all times been truly and faithfully 
kept. If they were not it did not arise from any instructions to Avhich 
I was a party, or of which 1 had any knowledge. 

In connection with the Sinking Fund Board, it has been charged 
that I was a party to a fraudulent sale of the State stock in the Green- 
ville and Columbia Railroad Company. This charge I deny in every 
particular. In the first place there was no fraudulent sale of that stock, 
so far as my knowledge or belief extends. The sale was made at a 
price fully equal to the value of the stock at that time, and was made 
to a party wholly without connection with me, or, so far as I know, 
with any member of the Sinking Fund Board. The statement, by 
whomsover made, that I joined in a sale of that stock to any person 
who acted for me, or under any arrangement or agreement with me, 
tacit or expressed, that I was to have any interest in the stock when 
purchased by him, is wholly false and utterly incapable of being sus- 
tained by any evidence. 

Another charge is that I engaged in a disastrous sale of the State stock 
in the Blue Ridge Railroad Company. The truth is that I was not 
present when that sale was made, and never in any manner took part 
in it. My views as to the proper terms and conditions of a sale of that 



ADMINISTRA TION. 



495 



Stock were laid before the Board in writing, but they were not adopted 
by the Board. 

The purchases of bonds made by order of the Sinking Fund Board 
were made in good faith, and the funds in the hands of the Board were 
applied in payment of such purchases. It is true, I think that the sec- 
ond purchase of $100,000 of State bonds was ordered before the funds 
were in the hands of the Board ; but this was done in the expectation, 
on the part of the Board, that sufficient funds would come into the 
hands of the Board to pay for the purchases as rapidly as payment 
should be necessary. This may have been an imprudent act, but it 
certainly has no element of dishonesty or fraud in it. 

To all other statements which impute to me any improper action in 
connection with this Board, I give an unqualified denial. I was never 
a party to any note given for purchases made from this Board. I never 
received a fee for any service done in connection with this Board or as 
a member of it ; and I have never been a party to any disposition of 
the proceeds of sales either in money or bonds, made by this Board, 
which was not strictly in accordance with law. If any illegal disposi- 
tion has been made of any property in the hands of this Board, it was 
not done with my consent, as the present Attorney General, who was 
directed to institute legal proceedings to recover property illegally dis- 
posed of by the Sinking Fund Commissioners, can testify. 

I am charged with responsibility for the losses arising to the State 
from the transactions of the Land Commission. Upon this point I 
frankly say that I have always regretted exceedingly the action which 
I was led to take in some instances as a member of the Advisory Board 
of that Commission, but I deny that in any instance I acted carelessly 
or dishonestly. I was, as a member of that Board, charged with the 
duty of consenting to the purchases of land recommended by the Land 
Commissioner. Of course I could have no personal knowledge of the 
lands. I never in a single instance had any personal knowledge of any 
tract of land purchased for the State. I acted, from the necessity of 
the case, solely upon the information and representations of others. 
Subsequently I learned that some of the lands purchased were not 
worth the price paid, but no member of that Board can be charged 
with dereliction of duty on that account, unless it can be shown that 
he had some knowledge, or had some reason to believe or suspect, that 
the information presented to him was incorrect, or that the purchases 
Avere improper or undesirable at the time they were made. In the case, 
for instance, of the Schley purchases, so called, the Board was in- 
formed by persons who were certainly competent to judge, and who were 
directed by the Board to make inquiries concerning those lands, that 
those lands were desirable. In that case I acted upon evidence which I 
was as well warranted in trusting as any evidence for any other purchase. 

If there be a man anywhere who can say that I ever had any 
personal connection of any sort with any purchase made by this Board, 
or that I communicated or acted with any party to any sale, with a view 
to promote such sale, or that I was ever remotely interested in any sale 



496 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

of land to this Board, let him be named. Once for all I say there is no 
shadow of foundation for such charges or insinuations. No man can 
prove them, and no man will undertake to prove them. 

Of the charges made against me in connection with the Board ap- 
])ointed to take charge of the agricultural land scrip, little need be said. 
Every act of that Board was in strict accordance with law. The sale 
of the scrip was made at a full and fair price, and after careful consid- 
eration and inquiry by the Board. The proceeds were immediately 
invested in State bonds as directed by law. Subsequently those bonds, 
while in the hands of the agent of the Board, were pledged for State 
loans, and are still held in New York as collateral security for about 
$57,000 lent to the State. Of the legality of this use of these bonds it 
is not now necessary to speak. They were pledged by the Agent 
under a claim of authority conferred by an Act of the General Assem- 
bly. The Board were not consulted in this matter, and never in any 
v/ay consented to the pledging of these bonds. 

The thousand other idle tales, born of the personal and political 
malice and mendacity with which this community is so remarkably 
afflicted — such as my reported partnership with Mr. Kimpton, my pres- 
ent or past pecuniary interest in various schemes which were intended 
to draw money from the Treasury, and the pecuniary benefit derived 
by me from my connection with the State Government — do not deserve 
even a denial. They are, each and all, false in every particular and 
every sense. Not only have I not received pecuniary profit from any 
transactions in which I have had an official duty to perform, and not 
only have I never been interested in any scheme which was hostile to 
public interests, but I can say, with honest pride, that no man ever yet 
in South Carolina approached me with a bribe in any form, or solicited 
my official or personal consent or cooperation in any dishonest meas- 
ure or action. Such a degree of respect has at least been shown me. 
While denouncing me in public as a corrupt official, my defamers have 
never ventured to solicit the aid which they would now convince the 
public I have been swift to extend to all corrupt and fraudulent meas- 
ures. The little property which I now possess I have acquired neither 
by corruption nor speculation ; but I have earned it by honest and hon- 
orable labor, and I defy the world to produce evidence sufficient to 
excite a shadow of a presumption to the contrary. I acknowledge mis- 
takes, and I regret the consequences of some acts in my official career. 
I desire to see those consequences repaired, and I desire it all the 
more because they have resulted in part from my acts, but to every 
specific and every general charge involving moral delinquency or con- 
scious wrong in my official action in this State, I give my absolute and 
solemn denial. D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Columbia, August 19, 1874. 

The following letter was published in the New York Trilnuie. 
Governor Chamberlain had been nominated by the Republicans 
and was engaged in prosecuting his canvass, pledging himself in 



ADMINISTRA TIOM. 497 

public addresses throughout the State, as the platform of the 
party pledged all the candidates, to a policy of retrenchment and 
reform/ The writer of the letter to which this communication is 
a reply is understood to be Mr. E. V. Smalley : 

To the Editor of the Tribune : 

Sir — The present political campaign in South Carolina is attracting 
the attention of the country to a degree which I am sure will induce 
you to publish a brief statement from me in reply to the letter of your 
correspondent '' S.," writing from Philadelphia in the Tribune of Sep- 
tember 2ist. Having been absent from home in the upper portions of 
this State for a fortnight past, I did not read the letter referred to 
until to-day. I find that it consists of a " conclusion " that I am not 
innocent of certain alleged frauds in connection with South Carolina 
bonds, based upon certain alleged " facts " which are " briefly outlined " 
by your correspondent. The " conclusion " of course rests upon the 
"facts." I shall give my attention entirely to the "facts " and let the 
/' conclusion " take care of itself. 

I pass by the numerous minor inaccuracies, to use the mildest term, 
into which your correspondent has fallen in his outline of "facts," and 
notice only those leading statements which are relied upon to connect 
me with the alleged frauds. 

First — Your correspondent asserts as a matter of fact that : 

All the Acts for the increase of the State debt were drawn by Chamberlain. They 
were very cunningly worded. Instead of authorizing the issue of bonds to a definite 
amount they authorized a sufficient amount to be issued to raise a given sum of money. 
A wide door was purposely left open for fraud here. 

In reply to this statement, I say that I did not draw any of the Acts 
in question, and I make this offer to your correspondent — that if he 
will support the assertion that I drew all or any of the Acts referred 
to by any thing besides his own assertion, I will prove the fact which I 
now state by incontestable evidence. Truth permits me to go further, 
and to say that I not only did not draw those Acts, but that I was not 
consulted in regard to their form or phraseology, nor did I know their 
phraseology until I saw them when duly published as Acts of the 
Legislature. 

But the remainder of your correspondent's statement, as above 
quoted, is not less unfounded and indicative of culpable haste or igno- 
rance. He says the Acts in question were " very cunningly worded," 
and that " a wide door was purposely left open for fraud." Let us see 
how this is. The Acts are to be found on pages 17, 18, and 182 of the 
fourteenth volume of the Statutes At Large of this Sate. By the first 
section of each Act authority is given to a designated officer or officers 

'■ to borrow, on the credit of South Carolina, a sum not exceeding 

dollars." This is the exact language of each Act, the amount to be 

' See Chapter I., page 8. 



498 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

borrowed being precisely fixed in each Act. This is the alleged 
" cunning " and " wide door for fraud " which is charged upon me Now, 
if you or your correspondent will refer to page 259 of the Statutes At 
Large of the United States of 1861, and to page 709 of the Statutes 
At Large of the United States of 1862-63, it will be found that the 
alleged "cunning " wording and " wide door to fraud " are simply literal 
copies f?-ovi the Acts of Congress under which the present bonded debt 
of the United States was authorized and contracted. The late Chief- 
Justice Chase, as you are aware, is the reputed author of each of those 
Acts. 

I leave this statement of your correspondent without further answer, 
and I respectfully submit to a candid public whether such a statement 
does not entitle me and all affected by it to the benefit of the maxim, 
''^Ab tino disce omnes." I think such reckless and injurious assertion 
ought to recoil on its author with fatal effect. 

Second — Your correspondent asserts as a matter of fact : 

Finally, when the credit of the State was exhausted ; when the Railroad Ring, 
under the lead of John Patterson, had stolen all the valuable interest of the State in 
the Blue Ridge, Greenville, and Columbia, and Spartanburg and Union railroads ; 
when the Real Estate Ring had made way with all the landed property of the State 
which they could put their hands on ; when the Legislative Ring under Moses had 
emptied the treasury and put out certificates of indebtedness by the ream ; when the 
Land Commission Ring had sucked that orange dry, the Bond Ring, as the four 
officials above named, their New York agent, and their Columbia bankers were popu- 
larly designated, hit upon a shrewd expedient to raise money. The bonded debt of 
the State had been run up to about $9,000,000, and it was plain that Wall Street 
would not touch a new issue adding to the total of the debt. A bill was prepared by 
Chamberlain, and put through the Legislature in February, 1872, if I remember right, 
known as the Conversion Bond Act. 

Here are two principal substantive allegations : first, that the " Con- 
version Bond Act" was passed in 1872, or in other words, after the 
events as described in the v.-ords above quoted took place. The alleged 
design of the Act is an inference from the time of its passage. What, 
then, shall be said of your correspondent's accuracy or truthfulness 
when I inform you that the " Conversion Bond Act " referred to is to 
be found on page 241 of the 14th volume of the General Statutes of 
this State, and was passed March 23, 1869, instead of February, 1872-- 
within less than seven months after the passage of the first bond Act in 
the fall of 1868, and three years before the date named by your corre- 
spondent as showing that this Act was a " shrewd expedient to raise 
money" after every thing else had been stolen ? 

The second principal allegation contained in this extract from your 
correspondent's letter is, that the "Conversion Bond Act" was "pre- 
pared by Chamberlain." This is likewise a total error. The Conver- 
sion Bond Act is a just and necessary Act of legislation, and 1 might 
have drawn it without a shadow of blame ; but as a matter of fact, the 
statement which I have made respecting the drawing of the other bond 



ADMINISTRA 7U0N. 



499 



Acts is true of this Act. Absolute proof of this statement will be fur- 
nished, if it is denied. 

Third — Your correspondent asserts as a matter of fact that " on 
Chamberlain's sole recommendation H. H. Kimpton, a college class- 
mate of his, was appointed Financial Agent to negotiate State loans in 
New York." Your correspondent is fortunate here m being correct in 
saying that Mr. Kimpton was a college classmate of mine, but beyond 
that single fact he is wholly mistaken in his statement. I deny that 
Mr. Kimpton was appointed on my " sole recommendation," and all 
fair-minded men will agree that I am entitled to be believed until some 
evidence to the contrary is adduced. I say that I had no more to do 
with his appointment than each and every other member of the Board, 
either in pow'er or influence. The appointment was made on the " sole 
recommendation " of financial authorities in New York, whose recom- 
mendations were furnished to the Board, and in proof of this I refer to 
Mr. Kimpton and the other members of the Board. They are compe- 
tent witnesses familiar with the facts and not likely to assume responsi- 
bility which does not belong to them. 

Your correspondent further asserts that Governor Scott stated to 
him that he accepted Mr. Kimpton's bond "because Chamberlain had 
told him it was all right." I know nothing of such a statement of Gov- 
ernor Scott, and it will be seen to have very little significance when 
other facts are properly stated. The Act authorizing the appointment 
of a Financial Agent is to be found on page 1 8 of the fourteenth vol- 
ume of the General Statutes of this State. No bond of any kind is 
authorized or required to be taken of the Financial Agent. The Board 
did, however, of their own motion require of the Agent his own per- 
sonal bond in the sum of ^200,000 for the faithful performance of his 
duties. That bond was given, and if I stated to Governor Scott that 
the bond was all right, I stated the truth the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth. That bond is now good and binding, and is an evidence 
that the Financial Board were at least more careful of the State's inter- 
ests than the law required them to be. The statement that I misrepre- 
sented any matter connected with Mr. Kimpton's bond is destitute of 
truth, or any basis of probable truth. 

I might go on to show other instances in your correspondent's letter 
of what I think should be considered unpardonable inaccuracy ; as, for 
instance, his statement that " the Legislature at its next session repudi- 
ated the entire issue of conversion bonds." Whereas the fact is that 
the Legislature at that session, instead of repudiating those bonds, for- 
mally " validated" them by an Act to be found at page 278 of the fif- 
teenth volume of the General Statutes of this State. 

It will be conceded, I think, that the foregoing are the principal 
"facts" upon which the " conclusion " of your correspondent respect- 
ing me rests. Of all or nearly all the rest it may be said that it is 
hearsay, repeated by your correspondent, and not evidence nor " facts " 
which demand more than a denial, and I forbear to claim further space 
for comment or argument. I quite agree with your correspondent when 



500 GOVEKNOK CHAMBERLAIN'S 

he says that " if he (I) had been a member of a band of assassins who 
had committed a murder, he (I) could not escape punishment on his 
(my) own statement that the others throttled the victim against his (my) 
protest " ; but I hope your correspondent is sufficiently familiar with 
ihe principle of law to which he appeals to know that it is always neces- 
sary, first, to establish the "fact" of the conspiracy and who are its 
members, before each can be made responsible for the acts of the 
others. 

I am happy to believe that you do not wish to do injustice to me or 
to any man, and if the ordinary avenues by which the facts on both sides 
of our present political controversy here might be presented to the 
country were not practically closed to the side on which I stand, I 
should not have felt called upon to offer you this statement. 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 
Columbia, S. C, October 12, 1874. 



After Governor Chamberlain had left South Carolina and 
settled in New York, there appeared in one of the journals of that 
city a pretended "confession" by Niles G. Parker, who had held 
the office of State Treasurer of South Carolina in the term of Gov- 
ernor Scott. The only notice taken of it by the Governor appears 
in the following report of an interview, published in the New York 
Tribimc : 

Ex-Governor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, was visited at his 
office, No. 346 Broadway, yesterday afternoon, by a Tribune reporter, 
who asked him if he had any statement to make in reply to the charges 
made against him by Niles G. Parker, ex-Treasurer of the State of 
South Carolina, of complicity in a ring to rob the State. Mr. Cham- 
berlain said that he had carefully read Parker's statement, or so-called 
" confession," and emphatically denied all the charges therein contained. 
He was ready and willing at all times to answer to the proper authori- 
ties for his acts while in South Carolina. He then made the following 
statement, which, he said, was all he was willing to say at present : 

Niles G. Parker, during my term of office as Governor, was sued by 
the State of South Carolina to recover for a large amount of coupons 
which he was charged with stealing, and afterward converting into State 
bonds. In this suit he was arrested and held to bail, which he was un- 
able to give. The case was tried in June, 1875, and a verdict rendered 
against Parker for $75,000. He was finally released from jail on habeas 
corpus and instantly fied from the State and has never returned. Since 
that time he has diligently sought to implicate me, in order to obtain 
money and immunity for himself. His agents and attorneys have vis- 
ited Columbia repeatedly on this errand, and through one of them, 
Parker now actually confesses, he sold certain papers, to be used 
against me politically, for $4,000. I know, also, that his wares were 



A DMINIS TKA TION. 5 o I 

offered to those Republicans who were hostile to me for my course as 
Governor. They were likewise offered to the Democratic committees 
last fall, and, I am glad to say, they found no market there. I have 
also the best reasons for stating that he has over and over offered his 
testimony against me to the officers of the present Administration in 
South Carolina, and I can only conclude that they found it as unworthy 
as did others. 

Having failed to realize further upon his stock of scandal, and being 
himself now under new indictments at Columbia, he comes forward in 
a fresh effort to palm off his budget upon the general public. Now, I, 
for one, do not feel called upon to notice Parker or his statements, 
further than to give the foregoing facts, and to pronounce his charges 
against me, one and all, maliciously false. None of them are, in fact, 
new, except the charge that he bribed me with $2,000 to do something 
which was so base that even he could not name it. With this excep- 
tion, they have all been repeatedly published in South Carolina for 
political effect in the last four years. If anybody demand of me that 
I should do more now than deny such charges, put forward by such a 
man as Parker confesses himself to be, he will not be gratified by me. 
I am amenable to the laws of South Carolina at all times for my acts, 
and whenever the officers of the law in that State wish to call me to 
account, I shall respond and meet my accusers. In the meantime, I 
shall trust to the evidence I have given to the country that I have been 
the friend of good government and the foe of dishonest men of all par- 
ties in South Carolina, — evidences which, less than one year ago, men 
of all classes and parties in that State accepted as conclusive, — to pro- 
tect my character with those whose good opinion is valuable. 





II. 



INDICTMENT OF GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN. 

On November 6, 1878, eighteen months after Governor Cham- 
berlain had left the State, the Grand Jury of Richland County, 
sitting at Columbia, returned an indictment of Governor Cham- 
berlain with four others (the Land Commissioner, the other two 
members of the Advisory Board of the Land Commission, and 
the Financial Agent of the State in New York) for conspiracy to 
defraud the State. The transactions upon which the indictment 
appeared to be founded occurred in the year 1870, while the 
Governor was the Attorney General and ex officio, a member of 
the Advisory Board of the Land Commission. Immediately 
upon the announcement in the press despatches of the day, that 
an indictment against him had been returned, Governor Cham- 
berlain telegraphed to the Attorney General of the State, asking 
what bail was desired, and announcing his readiness to meet the 
trial. Bail was fixed and given for $20,000. It was understood 
and believed by the public that all those indicted with Governor 
Chamberlain, with the exception perhaps of Kimpton, the 
Financial Agent, would have been offered and would have ac- 
cepted immunity in consideration of giving testimony against the 
Governor. 

The history of the proceedings upon this indictment is a short 
one and is given in the following transcript of the Court records at 
Columbia : 



State of South Carolina, 
Richland County, 



Wednesday, November 6th, 1878. 



The Grand Jury returns Bills as follows 

502 



administra tion. 503 

The State, "1 

Charles P. Leslie ; John S^Neagle, Niles G. Parker, f Indictment for Conspiracy. 
Daniel H. Chamberlain and Hiram H. Kimpton. J 

True Bill, 

J. G. Graham, Foreman. 
The Court adjourned until 10 o'clock A.M., to-morrow : 

D. B. Miller, C.C.C. P. &G.S. 
The State of South Carolina : 

At a Court of General Sessions for the County of Richland, begun to hoklen 
at Columbia on the fourth Monday in March (being the (24th) Twenty-fourth 
day of the month), Anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-nine. 
Present His Honor Thomas Thomson, presiding. 



No. 26. 

The State. 

vs. 



Conspiracy Cont. by deft. 

Charles P. Leslie, John L. Neagle, Niles G. Parker, | o M h Rt 

Daniel H. Chamberlain, and Hiram H. Kimpton. J ^ ' '"' 

* Hi H= ♦ ^ * Hi 

The Court adjourned until 10 o'clock A.M. to-morrow. 

D. B. Miller, C.C.C. P. & G.S. 
The State of South Carolina : 

At a Court of General Sessions, in and for the County of Richland, begun to 
be hoklen at Columbia, in the County and State aforesaid, on the fourth Monday 
in March (being the twenty-eight day of the month), in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty-one. 

Present the Honorable A. P. Aldrich, Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit 
presiding. 

******* 
Same. ~j 

vs. I Indictment Conspiracy Nol. 

C. P. Leslie, D. H. Chamberlain, Niles G. Parker, | Pros, 

and Hiram H. Kimpton. J 

The Court adjourns until to-morrow at 10 o'clock A.M. 

E. R. Arthur, C.C.G.S. 
South Carolina } 

Richland County, f 
I, E. R. Arthur, Clerk of the Circuit Courts, for the County and State afore- 
said, do hereby certify that the foregoing are true extracts from the Sessions Journal 
for Richland County, and State aforesaid, as will more fully appear by a reference 
to said Journal at pages 259, 267 and 380. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said 
Courts at Columbia, S. C, this iSth day of April, A.D., 1887. 

E. R. Arthur, 

Clerk of Circuit Courts. 

The indictment itself as it stands in the files of the Court at 
Columbia, bears this indorsement : 

"'■ Nol : Pros : — Bonham, Solicitor. 28 March, 1881." 




III. 

TWO LETTERS BY GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN RE- 
GARDING HIS ADMINISTRATION AND 
RETIREMENT. 

The two personal letters following are given a place here, be- 
cause they seem to have a certain public interest in connection 
with the record contained in this volume. 

GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 

New York, June ii, 1877. 

Dear Mr. Garrison : — . . . Your prophecy is fulfilled ; and 
I am not only overthrown, l^ut as a consequence I am now a citizen of 
New York. It seems to me a remarkable experience indeed, though I 
hope I do not egotistically exaggerate it, for I am sure it will soon be 
forgotten by most men in the press and hurry of new events. Why I 
write this line now and send it to Boston Avhen I know you are in 
Europe, is because I feel like putting on record now my main reflec- 
tions on my experiences of the last three years, and because I know, or 
think I know, that you will be interested in what I shall now write. 

First, then, my defeat was inevitable under the circumstances of 
time and place which surrounded me. I mean here exactly that the 
uneducated negro was too weak, no matter what his numbers, to cope 
with the whites. 

We had lost, too, the sympathy of the North, in some large measure, 
though we never deserved it so certainly as in 1876 in South Carolina. 

The Presidential contest also endangered us and doubtless defeated 
us. The hope of electing Tilden incited our opponents, and the greed 
of office led the defeated Republicans under Hayes to sell us out. 
There was just as distinct a bargain to do this at Washington as ever 
existed which was not signed and sealed on paper. And the South is 
not to be blamed for it, if anybody is ; but rather those leaders, like 
Evarts, who could never see their Constitutional obligations towards 
the South till the offices were slipping away from their party. 

So the end came ; but not as you expected. I find many sources of 
consolation. For my family I can only rejoice; and for myself, if I 
could at all separate my interests from theirs, I shall now lead a life 
better suited to my tastes and probably to my talents. . . . 

50a 



A DM IN IS TRA TION 5 O 5 

One other word only: I need not say to you that I look back on my 
record as Governor, even to its last hour, with pride and satisfaction. 
There is not in it all one act or effort which, in its intention, I would 
now change. It will lie open to scrutiny whether I will or not, but I 
submit it confidently to the inspection of all men. 

Yet I must close with a remark which may surprise you. It is this : 
I made a grave mistake in that I did not refuse to run on a ticket with 
R. B. Elliott. I saw it then, but not so clearly as now. I do not mean 
that this excuses, or tends to excuse, the conduct of those who have 
overthrown us. What I mean is that Elliott's bare presence on the 
ticket justly gave offence to some honest men of both races. He had 
opposed me brutally, especially in the nominating convention. Unable 
to defeat me, he determined to foist himself on the ticket with me to 
cover his defeat. I saw at once the bearing, in part, of this, and I took 
the resolution unknown to any friends, to walk into the Convention 
and throw up my nomination and avow that I did it because I would 
not run on a ticket with Elliott. I knew it would result in putting him 
off the ticket. I had actually risen in my office to go into the hall for 
this purpose when I was met at the door by a dozen or more of my 
most devoted colored supporters who came to congratulate me on the 
surreiider of Elliott in seeking to stand on a ticket with me ! I was dis- 
armed of my purpose and relinquished it. It was a mistake. Whether 
it affected the result which has now come I do not know. But I ought 
to have made Elliott's withdrawal the condition of my acceptance. 
This incident is now known only to you and me. 

Yours faithfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 



GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN TO HON. B. O. DUNCAN. 

Munich, August 25, 1882. 

My Dear Duncan : — . . . It does seem a little strange, 
does it not ? that we should renew our acquaintance here in Europe ; 
but as I have just determined to stay over till spring, I shall see you in 
Naples (D. V.) about February on our " grand tour " of Italy. Your 
letter has brought back South Carolina to me in a most vivid way. I 
am now paying the long-deferred penalty of my life there. Malaria, 
overwork, nervous tension, and all that attends these, have invalided 
me for I know not how long, though lately I have good hope I am going 
to be fairly well again. 

But, after all, whether I am or not, I cannot say I really regret my 
work in South Carolina. If I had sought it from ambitious or other 
causes, I should certainly have to regret it bitterly; — for failure, I su])- 
pose, is the verdict of the rest of the world upon it, so far as it notices 
it at all; but as it now looks to me, and as it did at the time, my career 
there was laid or forced upon me at every step. Others do not see this 
as clearly as I do. I remember that after the inauguration of Hamp- 
ton, while 1 was still " holding the fort," Judge Magrath and Mr. Camp- 



5o6 GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN'S 

bell of Charleston called on me at the Governor's room. In the course 
of conversation, they alluded to my throwing away so recklessly my 
political preferment at the hands of the white people, saying what was 
so often said to me, that I might have been Senator, and, as I remember 
it, might still be, if I would bow to events, or words to that effect. I 
knew they were sincere, and at heart friends of mine, and I took the 
occasion to tell them how I looked at things from a personal stand- 
point : — that I was, and had been, throughout, fighting no fight of my 
own or for myself, but for my party, which represented to me freedom, 
with good government, in South Carolina ; — that I had dreamed the 
dream of making 'the Republican party, even in South Carolina, and 
made up, as it was, mostly of negroes, the source and symbol of good 
government iox all the people; — that I had not seen, and could not then 
see, how their party, by their plan of rifle clubs and suppression of a 
free ballot, could preserve freedom, even if in all other respects they 
secured good government; — that I did not yet see the end, but at any 
rate I saw no path of honor for me but the one I was pursuing ; — that 
neither the coming National Administration nor the Democratic party 
in South Carolina could tempt me to voluntarily swerve from it ; — that 
I could be, and probably was already, beaten in my public hopes and 
plans, but that, so much the more, was nothing left for me but to stand 
where I was till the end came. They were impressed, as I saw, by 
what I said, and one of them came back a half hour later to tell me, for 
both, how fully they respected my motives and position. 

But one thing followed my defeat which I did not count upon. I 
did not think any Court would ever be found in South Carolina to 
indict me. I fancied that their victory would recall, rather than blot 
out, the recollection of two years of plaudits and praise and support of 
my Administration. Still I can see now that this result was to them 
almost a necessity of the situation, for, political necessity, real or im- 
agined, like other kinds of necessity, knows no law. . 

Thank God, however, that is all past, and has left no bitterness in 
my heart ! I have just seen that Hugh Thompson has been nominated 
for Governor. It is the best nomination that could have been made. 
He is progressive, and especially concerned with education, and I am 
heartily glad he is to be Governor. 

I believe now that with peace, even if it has been in some sense the 
peace of the sword at first, .j)rosperity will come to the State. Time is 
the all-healer. The negro is remitted to work, and the white man to 
povver. These, with honest administration and low taxes, will keep the 
peace, and time will heal the wounds and blot out even the scars of old 
strifes. The great resources of the State, her great permanent staples, 
the indomitable spirit of our people — which you even, native as you are, 
do not know so well as I do — will bring a noble future to South Caro- 
lina. That it may be so and that I may live to see it, is my earnest 
hope, and I am sure you will believe me when I say so. . . . 

Yours faithfully, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN. 



IV. 



A DISCUSSION OF PRESIDENT HAYES' SOUTHERN 

POLICY. 



On the 4th of July, 1877, Governor Chamberlain delivered an 
address at Woodstock, Conn., on President Hayes' Southern Pol- 
icy, the only occasion when he has given fully his views upon the 
constitutional, political, and personal questions involved in that 
policy. The following portions of this speech are given here as a 
discussion of questions which will always have interest in connec- 
tion with the topics and events of which this volume contains the 
record : 

I have already sufficiently informed you that I must speak 
in condemnation of what is known as President Hayes' Southern Pol- 
icy. The question will be asked : " Why attack that policy now ? It 
is irrevocable. Criticism cannot recall it. Denunciation cannot change 
it. Attacks upon it will distract the party and promote only the suc- 
cess of our political opponents." I answer, that if a political party is 
a contrivance for seizing and holding the government of the country, 
regardless of any broad or fixed political principles, I ought to hold my 
peace. But if, as I have believed, a political party is a means or agency 
for promoting the welfare of all the people by the enforcement, in the 
affairs of government, of certain political principles, then, whenever the 
citizen finds those principles abandoned by the party professing them, 
it is the simple dictate alike of duty and honor to oppose and attack 
those who are betraying the party which has trusted them. This duty 
I shall try to discharge. Party success is not always possible. Party 
honesty is. I know well that there are tides in the affairs of parties, 
great refluent waves of sentiment or opinion, which sometimes over- 
power the strongest political organizations. There is no permanent 
loss in such reverses. Principles remain and vitalize organizations 
into fresh life after every defeat ; but woe to that party which bends 
silently under the blow of treachery to its own principles ! 

I am to discuss a Presidential policy. It is one of the peculiarities, 
as well as misfortunes, of our political life that heretofore, as well as 
now, we have heard of Presidential policies. The expression discloses 
a dislocation of the proper relations between a President and the party 

507 



508 APPENDIX. 

which he represents. If you say the President should represent no 
party, but the whole people, the answer is, he must represent the whole 
people through fidelity to principles approved and accepted by him as 
the representative of his political party. Political parties, in the sense 
in which we use the term, are the outgrowth of freedom. The experi- 
ence of free peoples has devised no other effective mode of steadily in- 
fluencing and controlling public affairs. It is essential to the life of a 
party, to an honest or useful relation between a party and its leaders, 
that the latter should faithfully represent the principles of the former. 
No man is ever trusted as a party leader upon any other basis. A 
JPresidential policy, if the term is descriptive, is an anomaly and offence. 
It savors of bad faith. It has a native and historical odor of treachery 
and intrigue. 

But, fellow-citizens, what is the President's Southern policy ? 

In point of physical or external fact, it consists in withdrawing the 
military forces of the United States from the points in South Carolina 
and Louisiana where they had been previously stationed for the protec- 
tion and support of the lawful Governments of those States. 

In point of immediate, foreseen, and intended consequence, it con- 
sists in the overthrow and destruction of those State Governments, and 
the substitution in their stead of certain other organizations called State 
Governments. 

In point of actual present results, it consists in the abandonment of 
Southern Republicans, and especially the colored race, to the control 
and rule not only of the Democratic party, but of that class at the South 
which regarded slavery as a Divine Institution, which waged four years 
of destructive war for its perpetuation, which steadily opposed citizen- 
ship and suffrage for the negro — in a word, a class whose traditions, 
principles, and history are opposed to every step and feature of what 
Republicans call our national progress since i860. 

In point of general political and moral significance, it consists in 
the proclamation to the country and the world that the will of the ma- 
jority of the voters of a State, lawfully and regularly expressed, is no 
longer the ruling power in our States, and that the constitutional guar- 
anty to every State in this Union of a rci)ublican form of government 
and of protection against domestic violence, is henceforth ineffectual 
and worthless. 

Does not such a policy challenge attention ? Does it not justify 
iree discussion ? The statement which I have now made is drawn with 
a fair and judicial hand. It contains nothing but clear, visible, actual 
facts. And yet I ask you, fellow-citizens, does it not sound like an in- 
dictment ? 

In discussing such a policy it will not be necessary to do more than 
to recall well known and undisj)uted facts. 

. When President Hayes assumed his office, he found in Louisiana a 
State Government complete in all its departments, executive, legisla- 
tive, and judicial, with Governor Packard as its Chief Executive. That 
government rested for its legal title upon an election held and con- 



APPENDIX. 509 

ducted according to law, the results of which had been ascertained and 
declared in the manner provided by law. Those results and the mode 
of their legal ascertainment and declaration had been subjected to the 
examination and judgment of an august special tribunal. By the 
judgment of that tribunal, the agencies established by the laws of 
Louisiana for tlie conduct and declaration of that election had been 
declared legal and competent for those purposes. That judgment was 
an indispensable support to the President's title to his own office. 
Without it he was himself a usurper, without a shadow of legal right 
or semblance of lawful authority. 

It is another unquestioned fact that by the same election and the 
same agencies which had thus resulted in securing the electoral vote of 
Louisiana for President Hayes, a Legislature had been chosen com- 
posed of a large majority, in both branches, of Republicans. This 
Legislature had assembled, and with an unquestioned quorum of law- 
fully elected members in both branches, had proceeded in exact and 
unquestioned conformity to the Constitution and laws of Louisiana, to 
declare Governor Packard the lawfully elected Governor. He had 
assumed the office, and was in its lawful exercise. Not an element of 
legal regularity or validity was wanting to his title. From the moment 
Governor Packard became clothed with that office under the Constitu- 
tion and laws of Louisiana, no lawful authority existed in Louisiana 
or elsewhere to destroy or mar or impeach his title. It was irrevocable 
and unassailable by any lawful agency. 

President Hayes found the State Government, as I have said, com- 
plete in its organization, unquestionable in its validity, except upon 
grounds which directly and equally impeached the validity of his own 
title. He found it, however, menaced and beleaguered by an armed, 
violent, and revolutionary organization, calling itself a State Govern- 
ment, which had already forcibly seized a considerable part of the 
public offices and property at the capital, and stood in avowed readi- 
ness to complete its usurpation, whenever this could be done without 
actual collision with the military forces of the United States. Not 
only was every feature of this situation known to President Hayes, but 
he was subsequently, in due constitutional form, informed of it by the 
Legislature of Louisiana, then in session, in its demand, under the 
fourth, section of the fourth Article of the Constitution of the United 
States, for protection against domestic violence. 

Now, I undertake to say that no public exigency ever arose in which 
the Constitutional and political duty of the President of the United 
States was clearer or more imperative than in Louisiana at the time to 
which I have referred. I leave out of view, for the moment, all con- 
sideration of that most peculiar, and to many most humiliating feature 
of this business, which consists in a willingness, on the part of the 
President, to accept for himself the fruits of the election of Louisiana, 
although it is an indisputable fact that the vote in that State for the 
Hayes electors fell short of that for Governor Packard by several hun- 
dreds, and yet, while clutching those fruits with a ready, if not eager 



5IO APPENDIX. 

hand, to plan and carry out the overthrow of Governor Packard. I 
leave out of view here also the general question of party fealty, of 
which I shall hereafter speak, as well as of the general consequences 
of the President's conduct. I do not stop now to inquire what man- 
ner of man Governor Packard was, or what party he represented. If 
Governor Packard had been a corrupt poltroon, instead of a man 
whose honor and courage matches that of any in the Union, the Presi- 
dent's duty would have remained the same. I inquire only, at this 
point, what was the official duty of President Hayes towards the State 
of Louisiana ? And I answer that it is beyond intelligent dispute or 
reasonable question that it was his duty to protect the lawful Govern- 
ment of that State from domestic violence by the military forces of the 
United States, and to make the measure of that protection, as well as 
its continuance, the extent necessary to render Governor Packard's 
authority effective throughout the State of Louisiana. 

Our Government is a Union composed of separate States ; in the mi- 
pressive judicial phrase of Chief-Justice Chase, it is " an indestructi- 
ble Union composed of indestructible States." The powers of the 
General Government are limited and special. Beyond these it cannot 
go. Its powers limit and measure its duties. The Constitution in its 
opening sentence declares the great purposes of its own creation, and 
among these we find "to insure domestic tranquillity." By the con- 
currence of all respectable authorities the true construction of the 
whole instrument and the true interpretation of its separate provisions 
or phrases is that which secures, on the one hand, the efficient exercise 
of all the powers of the General Government which are essential to the 
attainment of the purposes for which the Union was formed, and on 
the other hand, and at the same time, leaves to the people of each State 
the free exercise of all the powers not delegated by the Constitution to 
the General Government. The gravest constitutional discussions, both 
parliamentary and judicial, which have marked our history have had 
reference to the line which should separate State rights from national 
rights. 

In defending the President's action towards Louisiana and South 
Carolina, great efforts have been made to cover his action with the 
mantle of State rights. The President himself has proclaimed his 
policy to be "local self-government," and we hear it described on all 
sides as " home-rule." It is in truth the exact opposite of this; but 
what I wish to remark now is, that the question involved in this discus- 
sion is not one, primarily, of State rights or national rights, but of 
national duty. The relations of the General Government and of the 
President as the Chief Executive to the present question, arise under 
the provisions of Section 4 of Article 4 of the Constitution, which de- 
clares that " The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of 
them against invasion ; and on application of the Legislature, or of the 
Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domes- 
tic violence." 



APPEiVDIX. 



511 



Whoever reads the Constitution will observe that almost every other 
section is concerned with the granting, or defining, or regulation of 
the several powers designed to be conferred on the General Govern- 
ment, or the denial or restriction to the States of powers which might 
interfere with the great objects of the Union. In the present section 
we find a purpose, primarily, not to enlarge the powers of the General 
Government nor to deny powers to the States, but the solemn imposi- 
tion of a great duty to be discharged by the United States towards 
each State. As to other sections the State and the nation are left to 
adjust their respective powers under the light of the language of the 
Constitution, and by the modes provided by that instrument. This 
section raises no such question. Its terms are clear, broad, unmis- 
takable. '' The United States shall . . . protect every State in this 
Union, on application, etc., against domestic violence." It does not 
say that the United States shall have power to protect each State. It 
does not say that each State shall have the right to demand protection. 
It is not a question of powers or rights. It is a plain command addressed 
by the Constitution to the Government which it created, requiring it to 
do a plainly specific duty. 

In discharge of the duty imposed by this section Congress, by the 
Acts of 1795 and of 1807, authorized the President, whenever the exi- 
gency described in this section should arise, or, to use the exact lan- 
guage of the Acts, — " in case of an insurrection in any State against 
the Government thereof " — to call forth such number of the militia of 
any other State or States as he deems sufficient to suppress the insur- 
rection, or to employ for the same purposes such part of the land or 
naval forces of the United States as he deems necessary. 

This duty, therefore, originally imposed upon the United States, is 
now imposed on the President. 

This section and the Act of 1795 have received judicial examination 
and application in the Supreme Court of the United States in the well- 
known case of Luther v. Borden, (7 Howard, i). Referring to this 
section of the Constitution, Chief-Justice Taney, speaking for the Court, 
says : " It rested with Congress to determine upon the means proper to 
be adopted to fulfil this guaranty " ; and referring then to the Act of 
1795, he says : 

' ' By this Act, the power of deciding whether the exigency had arisen upon which 
the Government of the United States is bound to interfere, is given to the President. 
He is to act upon the application of the Legislature or of the Executive, and conse- 
quently he must determine what body of men constitute the Legislature, and who is the 
Governor, before he can act. The fact that both parties claim the right to the Gov- 
ernment cannot alter the case, for both cannot be entitled to it. If there is an armed 
conflict, like the one of which we are speaking, it is a case of domestic violence, and 
one of the parties must be in insurrection against the lawful Government. And the 
President must, of necessity, decide which is the Government, and which party is un- 
lawfully arrayed against it, before he can perform the duty imposed upon him by the 
Act of Congress." 



512 APPENDIX. 

Now I submit that before any intelligent audience or tribunal, no 
argument is needed to make plainer the President's duty towards Lou- 
isiana. Read the section of the Constitution, and the Act of 1795, 
with the opinion of Chief-Justice Taney, and I do not see how any man 
with an honest purpose to do his duty could miss his path. The sim- 
ple inquiries to be made before acting were : Has application been 
made by the Legislature or the Executive according to the constitu- 
tional requirements ? If yea, does domestic violence or insurrection 
exist ? If yea again, then the President is false to his trust, derelict of 
his plain constitutional duty, if he fails to protect the State to whatever 
extent in degree of force or length of time may be requisite to subdue 
the insurrection or violence. Since no other provision of the Constitu- 
tion, as we have seen, is so imperative in enjoining a duty, so the dis- 
charge of no other constitutional duty by the President is so essential 
to the preservation of our dual system of government. It is the bul- 
wark not of State rights alone, but of State life. 

And now, let me inquire what was the action of the President under 
the circumstances stated ? Did he discharge his constitutional duty by 
protecting the State of Louisiana against domestic violence ? He made 
no attempt to do it. Being called upon by the Legislature of Louisiana 
in strict conformity to the Constitution, did he inquire and " deter- 
mine," to use the words of Chief-Justice Taney, ''what body of men 
constitute the Legislature, and who is the Governor " ? No, he did 
not. Assuming the right to preserve the peace in Louisiana by the 
military forces of the United States pending his negotiations, a right 
the exercise of which was a bold and flagrant usurpation unless derived 
from the duty which he was at the very moment refusing to perform, 
he enters upon negotiations with those who by armed violence and in 
military array are menacing the lawful Government of the State. Sir, 
I have seen the hot indignation of outraged patriotism poured upon 
the weak old man in whose feeble hands the great rebellion found the 
powers of this Government in i860, because he treated with the leaders 
and agents of that rebellion and could find no warrant in the Constitu- 
tion for "coercing a State." I could frame an excuse for James 
Buchanan. He was the decaying fruit of half a century of Northern 
subservience to Southern dictation, the poor dregs of a worn-out 
politician whose life had been spent in cowering submission to the will 
of those whom he was now called to confront. But what shall be said 
of this President, educated by the events of the last seventeen years — 
the long and perilous struggle to save the nation to freedom and jus- 
tice, — the representative of a party whose life and inspiration in every 
hour of its existence has been political justice and freedom for all Ameri- 
can citizens, — a President who had literally climbed to his high seat over 
the dead bodies of hundreds of loyal men in Louisiana, who had met 
death in forms far more terrible than any battle-field in order that the 
liberty of which they had tasted might be kept for their children ? 
James Buchanan could say he negotiated with those who were in arms 
against the United States, in order that he might by peaceful agencies 



APPENDIX. 513 

preserve the integrity of the Union and avoid a fratricidal war. The 
President enters upon his negotiations with those who are in arms 
against the lawful Government of Louisiana, in order that he might the 
more surely betray the friends who had trusted him and the cause he 
was sworn to uphold. 

You are familiar with the story. President Hayes, instead of seeking 
to discharge his constitutional duty according to the plain letter of the 
Constitution and law ; instead of inquiring, if he had doubts, " what 
body of men constitute the Legislature, and who is the Governor " ; 
instead of recognizing the palpable fact that an armed insurrection 
against the lawful Government of Louisiana existed and had been 
arrested in mid career solely by the presence of the military forces of 
the United States, and was still literally resting on its arms, despatches 
to New Orleans a Commission of five — for what ? Let the elaborate 
letter of instructions of his Secretary of State answer. Is it to inquire 
** what body of men constitute the Legislature and who is the Gover- 
nor " ? No, that inquiry was foreign to his purpose. Is it to inquire 
whether in point of fact an insurrection had arisen against the Govern- 
ment of which Packard was the head ? No. That inquiry was already 
answered by the fact avowed on the one hand and admitted on the 
other, that Governor Packard held his place against the insurrectionary 
forces solely by the protection of the military forces of the United 
States. The President's Commission went to New Orleans under in- 
structions which forbade their discharging the duties appropriate to 
such an occasion, and which directed them to enter upon work foreign 
to any just conception of the President's duties or powers. They were 
directed to make " no examination into or report upon the facts of the 
recent State election, or the canvass of the votes cast at that election." 
They were told that it was important to learn " the real impediments 
to regular legal and peaceful proceedings under the laws and Constitu- 
tion of Louisiana." They were told that " the President desires that 
you should devote your first and principal attention to the removal of 
the obstacles to an acknowledgment of one Government." ''If," says 
the Secretary, " those obstacles should prove insuperable, it should be 
your next endeavor to accomplish the recognition of a single Legisla- 
ture as the depository of the representative will of the people of Louisi- 
ana. This great department rescued from dispute, the rest of the 
problem could be gradually worked out." The Commission is further 
informed of the " extreme solicitude " of the President to avoid usiiig 
his authority in influencing or determining " contested elections " in 
a State, and to " put an end to even the appearance of military inter- 
vention in the domestic affairs of the State"; and they are again urged 
to secure a single Legislature, with the significant hint that the Presi- 
dent v/ill thus be relieved of his embarrassment, since the Legislature 
can alone call for his aid under the Constitution. 

Now, fellow-citizens, we cannot do better than to pause here long 
enough to consider the most extraordinary nature of these instructions. 
We shall see, if we look with our eyes and not with our prejudices, 



514 APPENDIX. 

a disregard not merely of the constitutional duty which then confronted 
the President, but a greater disregard of the proper line which limits 
the powers and functions of the General Government in its relations to 
the States. We shall see that as the final result of this business was a 
disastrous blow at State rights as well as human rights, so the methods 
employed to reach the end were conceived and executed in fitting disre- 
gard of constitutional powers and limitations. 

Recall now, what has already been shown, that the only possible 
Avarrant which the President had for any action or policy towards 
Lousiana was the duty imposed by the 4th Section of Article 4 of the 
Constitution. Observe again that the only inquiries to be made by the 
President under the call of the Legislature of Louisiana were. Does 
domestic violence, in the sense intended by the Constitution, exist in 
Louisiana ? or, Which of the two organizations claiming to be State 
Governments is the true and lawful one ? When the President of the 
United States is thus summoned to this duty, what right, what warrant 
of Constitution or law, I ask, can he have or find, for pushing aside 
the i)roper inquiries, and inquiring, either by himself or by a Commis- 
sion of five, how he may " remove the obstacles to the acknowledgment 
of one Government in Louisiana," or how he may " accomplish " — in 
the sounding phrase of the Secretary — " the recognition of a single 
Legislature as the depository of the representative will of the people 
of Louisiana " ? Of what concern was it to him — I speak in a consti- 
tutional sense — to know how two Governments could be reduced to 
one, or two Legislatures combined in one ? We hear much from the 
President and his advisers and defenders, of a new-born zeal for con- 
stitutional limitations. The same lips which in recent years have been 
wont to come to the consideration of constitutional questions with no 
narrower rule of construction than " sahis populi supre?na lex," are now 
tremulous with assurances of their '' extreme solicitude " lest they 
should give " even the appearance of military intervention." Sir, hold 
them to their new tests. Ask the President under what power, express 
or implied, he enters Louisiana to secure one Legislature or one Gov- 
ernment ? No man can answer you. It was bold, arrant usurpation, 
without even an excuse that it was undertaken in a good cause. He 
had been called upon by the Legislature which recognized Governor 
Packard, to protect this State against domestic violence. It was 
under this warrant alone that he could enter Louisiana except 
as a usurper. He could have refused aid to Governor Packard, 
as Tilden would have done, because he was not the lawful Gov- 
ernor. He could have withdrawn the troops from the vicinity of 
the Statehouse on the ground that no domestic violence existed, and 
left the controversy to settle itself. In either course his action would 
have had the merit of being an exercise of powers undoubtedly com- 
mitted to him. It might also have been characterized as open and 
straightforward. But the course which he did pursue was, first by his 
Commission to undermine Governor Packard, and then to withdraw 
the support of the United States troops. He dared not question Gov- 



APPENDIX. 



515 



ernor Packard's title ; but he thought, in the face of an intelligent 
])eople, to accomplish by indirection the purpose to which he stood 
committed. When, by the direct influence of his Commission and the 
pre-announcement of his purpose to withdraw the United States troops, 
he had gained for the Nichols Legislature a Returning Board quorum, 
he proclaims his discovery that no case of domestic violence exists 
in Louisiana warranting his intervention, and withdraws the troops. 

Now, fellow-citizens, I exercise the right of an American citizen,— 
no more, — when I say that a review of this chapter of our history 
leaves me in no doubt that the real purpose of the Louisiana Commis- 
sion and of the whole conduct of the Louisiana case by the President, 
was to accomplish the overthrow of Governor Packard and his 
authority. Called upon under the Constitution and laws of the coun- 
try, as its Chief Executive, to discharge a grave public duty, a duty 
essential to the maintenance of the life of a great State, a duty equally 
essential to the maintenance of human rights and the principles of the 
political party which had elected him, the President not only declines 
the duty, but he stabs the State that sought his aid, and betrays the 
principles and men whom he was bound to uphold and protect. 

Mark, too, the confession involved in the very effort to secure for 
Nichols a Returning Board Legislature. It was a confession that the 
foundation of the title of Governor Packard was impregnable ; that, 
in order to gain any semblance of authority for Nichols, Governor 
Packard's legislative department must be broken up, — a piece of policy 
as shallow as it was disreputable. Does any man say or suggest in 
terms, that the State Government of which Governor Packard was the 
head, was any the less the lawful State Government when a majority 
of the members declared elected by the Returning Board had taken 
seats in the Nichols Legislature ? Whenever any member of the 
Packard Legislature deserted his post, he left a vacant seat behind 
him. He carried nothing with him. It was then the prerogative of 
those who remained to cause the vacant seat to be filled. Or, if by the 
number of desertions no quorum was present, the result was a tempo- 
porary paralysis of the legislative arm. It remained for this obstacle 
to be removed by new elections, as provided by the laws of Louisiana 
as of all other States. It is an evidence of the confusion of ideas bred 
by such efforts to circumvent political justice, that the country has been 
deluded into a less degree of reprobation of the President's policy by 
the fact that under the influence of the President's Commission and 
his own pre-announced purpose, a majority of the members of the law- 
ful Legislature vacated their seats and joined the unlawful and revolu- 
tionary body called together by Nichols. The legal and parliamentary 
fact is that the action of those members neither took away any lawful 
authority from the one body, nor added any lawful authority to the 
other. Still less did such action change in any respect the constitu- 
tional duty of the President towards the State of Louisiana. 

Fellow-citizens, I do not intend to overlook any plausible or prom- 
inent argument by which the President's Southern policy is defended. 



5l6 APPENDIX. 

and I therefore propose to consider the question of the actual existence 
of " domestic violence " in Louisiana. The President, in his order re- 
moving the troops on the 20th day of April last, after, as I have shown, 
a Returning Board quorum had been obtained for the Nichols Legisla- 
ture, declared that he did not find in Louisiana a condition of "domes- 
tic violence " such as is contemplated by the Constitution. He had, of 
course, been familiar with every feature of the situation there during 
the whole period of his delay, and he had not waited till April 20th to 
satisfy himself whether domestic violence existed or not. But such is 
the ground on which he places his removal of the troops. Let us 
examine this ground. Let us ask what is " domestic violence," and did 
" domestic violence " exist, in the constitutional sense, in Louisiana 
when the President was called upon to determine his action ? 

******* 

I shall not object to allowing the present question to rest upon the 
doctrines and principles laid down by Mr. Webster. I have an habit- 
ual reverence for that most commanding authority in all our constitu- 
tional history. 

When Mr. Webster speaks of " merely threatened domestic vio- 
lence," or of " anticipating insurrectionary movements," what does he 
mean ? His meaning cannot well be expressed in clearer terms, but it 
may be said that he has in mind the broad and obvious distinction be- 
tween the avowal of a purpose to resort to violence or the belief that 
violence will be used, on the one hand, and the actual exhibition or use 
of violence on the other. If a purpose were formed by a large number 
of the citizens of this State to overthrow or resist your Government, — 
if organizations for that purpose existed, but their members had not yet 
appeared as actual organized bodies or openly moved to the accomplish- 
ment of their purposes, — Mr. Webster would not regard this as ''domes- 
tic violence " within the meaning of the Constitution, — a proposition 
which no one will dispute. The purpose must appear in acts. When- 
ever this condition of affairs arises, it is insurrection, and the moment 
for interference is the moment when the insurrection shows by its acts 
the power and the will to carry out its purpose. If a column of men, 
armed or unarmed, are found marching upon your Courthouse or your 
Statehouse with the known purpose of expelling your ofificers and your 
Government from their places, and if they possess the power to execute 
their purpose, are we to be told that this is not domestic violence be- 
cause the column has not yet captured your public buildings or dispos- 
sessed your lawful ofificers, or because it has not yet come into actual 
collision with the lawful authorities ? This is not reason nor law, and 
no respectable authority can be produced to support such a theory. 
The simple test is : Is there an actual exhibition of physical force suffi- 
cient and designed to assault the lawful Government, or oppose its 
authority with success ? If there is, domestic violence exists, insurrec- 
tion exists — not latent, but patent — not constructive, but palpable ; and 
if at such a juncture the President is called upon by the lawful Govern- 
ment to intervene, he is bound to protect the State. Must a lawful 
State Government, conscious that the force arrayed against her is 



APPENDIX. 517 

beyond her power to control or subdue, still be told to wait till the 
violence has struck her before she can demand protection ? The first 
blow may overthrow-her, render her helpless, inflict irreparable injury 
upon all the great interests she is bound to guard. 

But, sir, the great authority of Mr. Webster must not be claimed for 
such doctrines. Let me vindicate his fame from this undeserved im- 
putation. In 1848 Mr. Webster appeared in the Supreme Court of the 
United States, in the celebrated case of Luther v. Borden, involving a 
discussion of the controversy connected with the attempt in 1842 to 
displace the old Charter Government of Rhode Island. His argument 
has justly been regarded as one of the ablest efforts of his forensic life, 
and I ask you to listen to his views upon the identical question we are 
now discussing. 

Speaking of the section of the Constitution which we are now con- 
sidering, Mr. Webster says : " I cannot but think this a very stringent 
article, drawing after it the most important consequences and all of 
them good consequences. The Constitution, in this section, . . . speaks 
of cases in which violence is practised or threatened against a State — 
in other words, ' domestic violence,' — and it says ' the State shall be 
protected.'' " 

Continuing his argument, Mr. Webster quotes the law of 1795, to- 
gether with the section of the Constitution under discussion, and says : 
" These constitutional and legal provisions make it the indispensable 
duty of the President to decide, in cases of commotion, what is the 
rightful Government of the State. He cannot avoid the decision." 
Again, he says : 

My learned adversary has shown a rightful Government. Suppose it to be right- 
ful. Suppose three fourths of the people of Rhode Island to have been engaged in it, 
and ready to sustain it. What then ? Hov^f is it to be done without the consent of 
the previous Government ? How is the fact that three fourths of the people are in 
favor of the new Government to be legally ascertained ? And if the existing Govern- 
ment deny that fact, and if that Government hold on and will not surrender till dis- 
placed by force, and if it is threatened by force, then the case arises, and the United 
States must aid the Government that is in, because a?t attempt to displace a Government 
by force is " domestic violence." It is the exigency provided for by the Constitution. 

We see now that in Mr. Webster's opinion the Constitution and laws 
of the United States have reference in this matter to a case where vio- 
lence is " practised or threatened " ; to a case where " commotion " 
arises ; to a case where a State Government is " threatened by force " ; 
to a case where "an attempt is made to displace a State Government by 
force." In these cases he declares with just and honest emjihasis that 
the Constitution commands that " the State shall be protected.'' He 
declares, too, that in such cases " it is the indispensable duty of the 
President to decide what is the rightful Government of the State." He 
declares that the President " cannot avoid the decision." 

Read these statements of constitutional principles and duty, fellow- 
citizens, and then read the letter of the Secretary of State to the Lou- 



5l8 APPENDIX. 

isiana Commission, the Report of that Commission to the President, and 
the final action of the President, and you will see how far Mr. Webster's 
great name can be borrowed to cover the cowardice and treachery of 
President Hayes' Southern policy 

It will be useful here to notice the action taken by the President of 
the United States, when called upon for aid by the Governor of Rhode 
Island in the case which Mr. Webster was discussing. President John 
Tyler replied that, in his opinion, the time had not arrived to apply 
force, but he directed his Secretary of War to confer with the Governor 
of Rhode Island, and when it appeared to them to be necessary, to call 
out from Massachusetts and Connecticut a sufficient force of the militia 
to terminate at once this insurrection. He decided that the Charter Gov- 
ernment was the lawful Government, and, while awaiting further events, 
he proclaimed his purpose to uphold the lawful Government whenever 
the j)ower of the United States should be necessary to that end. I in- 
vite you to contrast this course with that of President Hayes towards 
Louisiana. 

But, fellow-citizens, what were the facts of the situation in Louis- 
iana as respects this question of domestic violence ? Was there actual 
or only threatened violence ? I simply state facts known to every man 
when I say that actual violence, armed insurrection, military organiza- 
tions under arms, moving and acting under orders of officers, had 
attacked the Government represented by Governor Packard, had 
wTested from it by actual overpowering force a large part of the public 
offices and buildings at New Orleans, and had paused only when they 
had shut him and all that remained of his Government within the walls 
of one building in that city. This armed force had been stayed from 
further progress only by the actual presence of the military forces of 
the United States acting under orders which required them to permit 
no further violence. Now, fellow-citizens, is it not mockery and insult 
to ask whether this is domestic violence ? But it is said the violence 
had ceased. How had it ceased ? Why had it ceased ? Had the in- 
surgent forces been disbanded ? Had they relinquished their purpose 
to resist the authority of Governor Packard ? Had his rightful author- 
ity been restored in the places from which it had been expelled ? No ; 
the insurgent forces maintained their ground, maintained their organiza- 
tions, maintained their purpose, held possession and use of all they had 
gained by force, and openly and at every hour, from the 4th of March 
to the 20th of April, defied the lawful Government of the State, resist- 
ing by actual force every effort of the lawful Government to subdue 
them, and actually seizing and imprisoning the State officers who at- 
tempted to exercise or assert the authority of the lawful Government. 
Will any man dispute this statement ? I challenge him to come for- 
ward. But we are told, we are especially assured by Col. Higginson, 
that there was peace at this time ; perhaps, he says, a "hollow peace," 
but still " peace." Now, I say that, as a matter of fact, or of reason, or 
of law, there was no more peace in Louisiana at this time than there 
was in Virginia in the winter of 1863 to '64, when the armies of Gen- 
eral Meade and General Lee lay silently confronting each other on the 



AFPEXDIX. 310 

banks of the Rapidan. I mean exactly what I say. The authorir\- of 
the lawful Government of Louisiana was as much assailed, the peace of 
that State was as much disturbed, by armed resistance, from March 4th 
to April 20th, as was the government and peace of the United States 
when active military operations were suspended, for anv cause, during 
the four years of the rebellion. 

Fellow-citizens, much more might be said in support of \"iews 
already presented, but enough has now been presented to warrant the 
conclusion that President Hayes' action towards the State of Louis- 
iana, was a plain and palpable disregard of the rights of that Slate 
under the Constitution, and of the durj- imposed by the Constitution 
upon the President of the United States. 

You have already, no doubt, asked why I have tested the Presi- 
dent's Southern policy solely by his conduct toward Louisiana. I ynW 
answer you. I have preferred to speak of a case in which I was not 
a party. In addition to this, I have presented the case of Louisiana 
instead of South Carolina, because the facts of the Louisiana case 
were in some respects clearer than those of the South Carolina case. 
L'nfortunately for us in South Carolina, the apparent result of the 
election was the election of a part of the Democratic State officers, in- 
cluding the Governor. The legal safeguards for the protection of the 
election from the effects of fraud and violence were likewise less per- 
fect than in Louisiana. The validity of one branch of the Legislature 
of South Carolina was in controversy. The question of the existence 
of domestic violence, in the constitutional sense, was less clear than in 
Louisiana ; and I frankly admit now, as I have always admitted, that 
the situation in South Carolina presented questions upon which there 
may have been occasion for difference of opinion. The President's 
duty, in this case, to have examined and decided, in the language of 
Chief- Justice Taney, " what body of men constituted the Legislature, 
and who was the Governor," a duty which Mr. Webster declared the 
President " could not avoid," was as clear and imperative as in the 
Louisiana case. If upon such examination he had decided that Gov- 
ernor Hampton represented the lawful Government of South Carolina, 
his conduct in removing the troops would have been justitiable or 
otherwise, according to the facts and evidence upon which his con- 
clusion rested. This he did not do. I shall not now enter upon a dis- 
cussion of this question. I have only to say that I regard the legality 
of the Government of South Carolina, which I represented, and my 
own title to the office of Governor of that State, as perfect. I there- 
fore regard the action of the President towards South Carolina with 
the same disapproval as I regard his action toward Louisiana. 

We have now seen what are the features of what is well called Pres- 
ident Hayes' Southern policy. I ask no one to go with me further 
than arguments which I present shall fairly carry him. For myself, I 
take leave to denounce it, here and now, as unconstitutional and rev- 
olutionary, subversive of constitutional guaranties, and false to every 
dictate of political honor, public justice, and good morals. There is 
BO point, feature, or form of this policy that has support in a fair con- 



520 APPENDIX. 

struction of the Constitution, or an honest view of facts which are 
involved ; and I believe it requires only a careful examination, unin- 
fluenced by mawkish sentiment or the cowardice which shrinks from 
attacking the conduct of one who was chosen by our own party, to con- 
vince all who have ever sympathized with the principles of the Repub- 
lican party, that such a policy deserves, upon all legal and constitu- 
tional grounds, the condemnation which I have pronounced upon it. 

But when we look further and inquire what other defences of this 
policy are offered, we are lost in a maze of subterfuges, contradictions, 
falsehoods, fallacies, and inanities. Conspicuous in this list is the claim 
made by the President himself and echoed by his defenders, that this 
Presidental policy is in accord with the platform of the Republican 
party, with the President's letter of acceptance, and with his known 
views at the time of his nomination and during the canvass. I call 
this the chief of subterfuges, if not of falsehoods. I confess I cannot 
understand or measure the audacity which prompts such a claim. 
When, where, by whom, before the nomination, or after it, during the 
canvass or during the long agony of suspense which succeeded the 
canvass, will you find from President Hayes or any representative of 
him or of the Republican party, high or low, a hint of such a policy ? 
It cannot be found. Never till the country heard with amazement the 
first whisperings of the machinations of Stanley Matthews and the 
Ohio clique who stood nearest the President, — the basest passage I 
have ever read in our political history, — did any portion of the public, 
or of the Republican party, imagine that the President would enter 
upon such a policy or course of action. It is impossible to overstate 
this general fact. Especially is it impossible to overstate the deliber- 
ate, long-continued, unremitted efforts, made at every stage of the 
struggle from November 7th to March 4th, to inspire the Southern 
Republicans with fidelity to the Republican cause. If doubts arose, 
with electric speed came new assurances that Hayes, if elected, would 
vindicate the rights of those who were fighting his battles at the South. 
Is the despicable suggestion here made that President Hayes knew 
nothing of all this ? Sir, it is incredible. He did know it ; and he 
stood by, willing to see men risking, by day and by night, for months 
which seemed longer than years, their lives ; aye, losing their lives by 
hundreds, to lift him, to the Presidency, ui)on the lying assurances, if 
what he now says be true, that he would protect and rescue them by 
the great powers of the office he should receive. Every man who 
stood near to the President, every man whom the public had a right to 
regard as his faithful representative, joined in these assurances,— 
assurances which carried no doubtful meaning, — assurances which 
meant to the beleaguered and fainting soldiers on those outposts of 
freedom, that succor and help would come if only they defended to the 
last the ground which they had won. Sir, when I think of these 
things, my heart grows hot with indignation, and a curse comes un- 
bidden to my lips, for the men who thus played with the blood of brave 
men and women as the gambler plays with his dice. Such treachery 
passes my comprehension. . . . 



V. 



THE ADDRESS AT GREENVILLE. S. C 

The following article is preserved here because it contains so 
distinct a recognition of what appeared probably to most of the 
white citizens of South Carolina, as well as to the writer of the 
article, the " hopeless incongruities " of Governor Chamberlain's 
position. 

[Editorial article in the Charleston News and Courier, May 6, 1876.] 



Governor Chamberlain's visit to Greenville in December last is memorable because 
his absence from Columbia was turned to such evil account by the bandit factions in 
the Legislature, vi^ho seized the occasion to elect Moses and Whipper to be judges in 
South Carolina. This catastrophe engrossed public attention for the time, and the 
Governor's speech in Greenville, together with the whole subject of the Whitsitt 
prizes, received but little notice, far less than was due. 

Now, therefore, in the calm of politics, we welcome heartily the neat pamphlet, 
reprinted from the pages of the New Englander, which places us in possession of his 
beautiful " Address on the Value of Classical Studies." The style and substance of 
the address are in Governor Chamberlain's best vein ; and the occasion, the speaker, 
the theme, the scenes in the midst of which it was composed, and the audience to- 
whom it was delivered, combined to render it one of the most remarkable of his 
efforts. 

It would have been difficult to have brought together anywhere in the State an 
assemblage presenting so striking a view of the manner in which time and circum- 
stances have harmonized what, some years ago, must have seemed hopeless incon- 
gruities, and even now are hardly removed from paradox. Had this assemblage 
occurred but a few months earlier, it could scarcely have failed to excite either passion 
or derision ; yet on the occasion of the award of the Whitsitt prizes for proficiency in 
Greek, neither propriety nor decorum seems to have ruffled a feather. 

Greenville, the first town in the State and the metropolis of the white counties, 
has never been in vassalage to policy, nor has she been required to pay to political 
expediency the galling tribute of bated speech or ambiguous language ; hence from 
no other quarter could an invitation have come to Governor Chamberlain more free 
from the color of insincerity, and therefore more complimentary to his personal 
worth. 

521 



522 APPENDIX. 

He came to Greenville as a scholar, not as a politician ; as a distinguished citizen, 
not as Chief Magistrate of the State ; and the tagt-which has always sat at the helm 
during his public career guided him safely amidst the intricacies of so anomalous a 
position. 

When Daniel H. Chamberlain stood before a select audience of South Carolinians 
in the capital of the up-country as their chosen orator and the advocate of the 
humanities, he might well have felt proud of the intellect which had achieved such 
a success ; and he could with great appropriateness extol the course of study by 
which his mind had been instructed and its faculties trained and developed. He 
must have felt that all who now hailed him as the champion of culture, knew him also 
to be the chief exponent in South Carolina of the social and political forces which 
had overthrown the culture and the refinement of the State and had established igno- 
rance and vulgarity in supreme control. He must have been aware that within sound 
of his voice were many familiar with his ordinary surroundings in Columbia, and 
keenly sensible of the contrast they present to the features of society at the capital at 
a period when nearly all who served the State had been nurtured at her own college, 
and were accustomed to illustrate in personal demeanor and in official conduct how 
well their yVlma Mater had fulfilled her modest profession, " EmoHit mores nee sinit 
esse fcros." 

The orator must have had these thoughts in his mind, but he was unmoved by 
them. There are two qualities which, when harmoniously blended and thoroughly 
incorporated in a man's character, establish his dignity and command deference in 
every company. These are courage and courtesy. These same qualities, even when 
found apart, have always been honored in South Carolina ; hence it is easy to under- 
stand how Governor Chamberlain captivated his audience, first by his courage in 
calmly stepping upon the pedestal which seemed to have so narrow a base in the fit- 
ness of things, and secondly by the graceful compliment he paid to the State in calling 
up from the cherished memories of her people the name of Hugh S. Legare to intro- 
duce and commend the subject and the speaker. 

From this point one who reads the Address loses sight of orator and audience, 
place and time. The mind retires into its garden, which is the imagination, and 
there, reposing under the shade of college recollections, takes in argument and illus- 
tration, narrative and figure, mingled with breezy memories of delightful days, and 
flecked with, now and then, the shadow of a ]iassing remembrance — a cloud now — 
once the light of a comrade's face. 

It is well for South Carolina that somewhere in her borders a new spring of 
literary culture has made its way through the crust of material utility into which the 
surface of society has been trodden by the ceaseless feet of men toiling for their daily 
bread ; it is well that the precious fountain has been recognized and protected ; it is 
well that the Governor of the State has publicly honored it ; but better than all is it, 
that through the guidance of an over-ruling Providence this worn and wasted State 
should just at this juncture have received at the hands of such an organization as the 
Republican party of South Carolina a Chief Magistrate worthy to raise again an altar 
to the classical muses, and able to pour upon the fane so acceptable a libation. 

There are still in South Carolina men who have not bent the knee to the Baal of 
expediency ; there are still children who have not passed through the fire of prema- 
ture "sharpening"; and to these the demonstration at Greenville is Hke the little 



APPENDIX. 



523 



cloud that rose out of the sea foretelling redemption, when the broken altars shall be 
repaired and the neglected sacrifices resumed. 

The Alumni of the South Carolina College will hear with especial satisfaction of 
the revival of classical studies in the State, and it may be that the time will soon be 
propitious for them to ask to be embodied under a State charter, and to have recom- 
mitted to their pious hands the future of their revered Alma Mater. This would, 
indeed, be the beginning of the end of the supremacy of ignorance and vulgarity. 




VI. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



Daniel Henry Chamberlain was born in the town of West 
Brookfield, Worcester County, Massachusetts, June 23, 1835. 
His father was a farmer, in moderate pecuniary circumstances, of 
great firmness and even sternness of character, and his mother a 
woman of unusual intellectual force and religious culture. He 
was the ninth of ten children, nine of whom — six sons and three 
daughters — are now living. All the children of the family achieved 
a good education, two of the brothers being Rev. J. M. Chamber- 
lain, of Iowa College, and Rev. L. T. Chamberlain, D.D., of 
Brooklyn. Until he was fourteen years of age Governor Cham- 
berlain's life was passed in work on his father's farm and in at- 
tendance on the common schools of his native town. In 1849 
and 1850 he spent a few months at the academy in Amherst, 
Mass., beginning there his Latin and Greek, and in 1854 he passed 
part of a year at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., teaching 
school each winter from 1852. In 1856, at the age of twenty-one, 
he entered the High School in Worcester, Mass., then under the 
charge of Homer B. Sprague and Wolcott Calkins, where, in 
1857, he completed his preparation for college ; but being then 
without the money to go on, he remained a year as teacher in the 
same school, and in 1859 he entered Yale College. His college 
course was marked by great industry in all directions. In 1862 
he was graduated with the highest honors^in oratory and English 
composition, while in general scholarship he held the fourth place 
in his class, which at graduation numbered 1 10 members. Among 
his classmates who have since become known to the world were 
Franklin McVeagh, of Chicago ; Rev. Dr. Edward B. Coe, of 
New York ; W. H. H. ("Adirondack ") Murray ; Flavius Josephus 

524 



APPENDIX. 525 

(" Joseph ") Cook ; Dr. George M. Beard ; Frederick Adams, of 
Newark, N. J. ; Rev. H. H. Stebbins, of Oswego, N. Y. ; Robert 
K. Weeks, S. B. Eaton, Henry Holt, Buchanan Winthrop, and 
Melville C. Day, of New York City; John W. Ailing, of New 
Haven ; George C. Ripley, of Minneapolis ; Prof. John P. Taylor, 
of Andover Theological Seminary ; and Prof. Henry P. Johnston, 
of the College of the City of New York. 

From the age of fifteen he was, in sentiment and sympathy, 
an abolitionist of the Garrison-Phillips type, though believing in 
political action, and taking keen interest in the leaders and the 
triumphs of the political parties called Free Soil and Republican. 
At New Haven, in i860, he cast his first vote for Abraham Lin- 
coln. On the breaking out of the Rebellion, he was on the point 
of quitting college and entering the army', but was dissuaded by 
friends whose judgment he was bound to regard, who urged 
that he could not afford to sacrifice his collegiate course. Upon 
the completion of his college course he entered the Harvard Law 
School, where he remained but little more than a year, until the 
fall of 1863, when he could no longer resist the duty of entering 
the army. The following" extract from a letter written by him to 
a college friend, in November of that year, shows his motive and 
feeling in thus abandoning his uncompleted professional studies : 

I am going to the war within the next two months. January, 1864, shall see me 
" enlisted for the war." I have no plans beyond that ; do not know how or where I 
shall go, but go J must. I ought to have gone in '61, but the real reason I did n't 
was, that I was then, as I am now, in debt for my college expenses to those who 
cannot possibly afford to lose what I have borrowed from them. I am told that it is 
foolish for me to go ; that I can do no more in the army than the less educated. I 
know all that, but years hence I shall be ashamed to have it known that for any reason 
I did not bear a hand in this life-or-death struggle for the Union and for Freedom. 
I find I can insure my life for enough to cover the $2,000 I owe, and nothing shall 
hinder me longer than is necessary to get the money to do this. 

Accordingly, obtaining the loan of $250 from his instructor 
and friend, the late Professor Emory Washburn, for that pur- . 
pose, he insured his life, and by the interest of the same good 
friend he received a Lieutenant's commission in the 5th Massa- 
chusetts Cavalry, a regiment of colored volunteers, then forming 
under the command of Col. Henry S. Russell, of Boston, and un- 
der the special patronage of Governor John A. Andrew. He left 
for the seat of war in Virginia in the spring of 1864. His army 



526 APPENDIX. 

life, until the end of hostilities, was spent at Point Lookout, Mary- 
land, and in the Army of the James, at City Point, and before 
Petersburg. On the early morning of April 3, 1865, he entered 
Richmond with his regiment, then under the command of Col. 
Charles Francis Adams, Jr. He passed the remainder of the year 
on the Rio Grande, with Weitzel's corps, and in December, 1865, 
was mustered out of the service at Boston. 

Early in January, 1866, he went to Charleston, S. C, to settle 
the affairs of a classmate, James Pierpont Blake, of New Haven, 
drowned at Edisto Island. While so engaged he visited the Sea 
Islands near Charleston, where he was led to engage in cotton 
planting, in the hope of being enabled in this way to pay his college 
debts ; but the two years he spent in this occupation proved pecu- 
niarily unsuccessful. In the Fall of 1867, he was chosen a member 
of the Constitutional Convention, called under the Reconstruction 
Acts, and took his seat in that body in January, 1868. He was a 
member of its Judiciary Committee, and an influential member in 
all its deliberations. He so acquitted himself in these duties that 
all the friends of the new Constitution desired him to be one of the 
State of^cers who were to establish in practical operation the new 
organization of government. The ofifice of Attorney General, be- 
ing in the line of his chosen profession, was the only one he would 
consent to take, and to this he was chosen, holding it for four years 
continuously. This Attorney General, whose law studies had been 
prematurely broken off, who had never had a day's practice in 
the courts, was almost immediately brought into conflict with 
some of the foremost lawyers of a community always distinguished 
for the learning and ability of its Ikir, in the trial of causes of great 
moment, involving the highest constitutional and legal questions, 
a strenuous endeavor being made to secure fulfilment of the pre- 
diction that the new State could not live. It was soon discovered 
that their inexperienced opponent was a man of whom it was not 
wise to presume any weakness that could be overcome by tireless 
industry and sound thinking. The pages of this book bear ample 
testimony to the standing he achieved at the Bar of South Carolina. 

At the close of his service as Governor, he removed to New 
York City, where he resumed and has continued the practice of 
his profession. 




INDEX. 



A 



Abbeville, interrupted Republican meet- 
ing at, 378. 

Accounts, recommendation regarding ob- 
solete, 50. 

Adams, " Doc," Capt. Hamburg com- 
pany of militia, 314. 

Advertiser (newspaper), Boston, Mass., 
commends disarmament of colored 
militia in Edgefield County, 70 ; com- 
ments on better feeling in South Caro- 
lina, 113 ; on Gov. Chamberlain and 
the Whipper-Moses case, 236 ; Wash- 
ington correspondent reports that Gov. 
Chamberlain will make no further con- 
test, 479 ; comments on the abdication 
of Gov. Chamberlain, 4S3. 

^</^'(?r/?'j^r (newspaper), Edgefield, S. C. 
commends veto of "bonanza" bill, 
no. 

Agricultural and Mechanics' Institute, 
56, 174 ; condition and needs of, 18 r ; 
inquiry into expenses of advised, 246 ; 
249. 

Aiken County, Hamburg in, see Ham- 
burg ; work of the rifle clubs in, 391. 

Aiken, D. Wyatt, appointed Commis- 
sioner, 134 ; violent and abusive 
speeches against CjOv. Chamberlain, 

377-379- 

Aldrich, A., speech and resolutions at 
Barnwell meeting, 213. 

Aldrich, A. P., speech at Barnwell meet- 
ing, 211-213. 

Appointments, executive. Gov. Chamber- 
lain's record in, 288, 289. 

Appropriation Bills, small one approved, 
42 ; critical Message regarding it, 43 ; 
letter of Gov. Chamberlain to Chair- 
man Senate Committee on Finance 
showing how to reduce appropriations, 
71 ; letter to Speaker Elliott urging 
retrenchment in annual appropriation 
bill for 1876, 245-247 ; shows Com- 



mittee of Ways and Means how ap- 
propriations and taxes may be reduced 
twenty per cent., 247-249 ; bill passed 
the lightest for many years, 251. 

B 

Babbitt, C. J., Gov. Chamberlain's pri- 
vate secretary, delivers keys' of execu- 
tive office to Gen. Hampton's repre- 
sentative, 485. 

Baker, Elihu C, unsuccessful candidate 
for judge, 39. 

Bancroft, George, obligation to South 
Carolina for the Union, 3. 

Bank and Trust Company (Hardy Solo- 
mon's Bank), removal of State funds 
from, by Gov. Chamberlain, 88 ; pas- 
sage and veto of bill to restore them, 
8g ; failure of, 145 ; talk of Gov. 
Chamberlain on the failure, 14S, 149 ; 
reference to, in second annual Mes- 
sage, 167, 168 ; Gov. Chamberlain's 
record on, 292-294. 

Bank, of the State, status of bills of, 22 ; 
trouble on account of, threatened, 249. 

Barker, T. G., speaker at Charleston 
meeting, to support Gov. Chamber- 
lain, 208 

Barnwell, Gov. Chamberlain addresses 
County Agricultural Society at, 135 ; 
meeting to protest against Moses, 
Whipper, and Wiggins, 211-214 ; de- 
mands reorganization of Democratic 
party, 221, 222. 

Bartlett, Gen. W. F., speech at Lexing- 
ton ; centennial, 119. 

Beaufort, strike of laborers on the Com- 
bahee rice plantations, 341 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain makes first speech of his 
canvass, 345. 

Black, Col. H. M. (U. S. A.), action of, 
in protection of Statehouse, 442. 

Blackwell, citizens of, ask aid of Gov. 
Chamberlain in discovering certain 
criminals, 141. 



527 



528 



INDEX. 



Blackwell, Dr. H. B., letter to, by Gov. 
Chamberlain, 235. 

Blaine, James G., by whom supported, 
227 ; votes for, in national convention, 
271 ; note to, by Major Corbin, con- 
veying a message from Mr. Evarts, 471. 

Blanding, J. I)., 211. 

Board, Financial, action of Gov. Cham- 
berlain while Attorney General, and 
ex-offlcio a member of (1868-1872), 
482 ; 499. 

Board of State Canvassers. See Can- 
vassers. 

Bonanza bills. See Debt. 

Bonds, State, and Bond Acts. See Debt. 

Boutelle, Capt. C. O., 179. 

Bowen, C. C, Sheriff of Charleston, op- 
poses Gov. Chamberlain in April con- 
vention, 239; opposes his renomina- 
tion, 355. 

Briggs, Richard, Boston, letter to, by 
Gov. Chamberlain, 118. 

Bristow, B. H., reform work as Secretary 
of the Treasury, 227 ; votes for, in na- 
tional convention, 272. 

Brown, C. C, receives votes for U. S. 
Senator, 455- _ 

Buist, G. L., presides at Moultrie cele- 
bration, 342, 344. 

Bulletin (newspaper). New Orleans, La., 
commends (]ov. Chamberlain's Charles- 
ton speech to Gov. Kellogg, 160. 

Bunker Ilill, Washington Light Infantry 
of Charleston go to centennial of bat- 
tle of, 131. 

Burke, Edmund, not a defender of wan- 
ton murder, 384. 

Butler, Col. A. P., action after the Ham- 
burg massacre, 317 ; commander of 
the " Butler Cavalry," an unlawful 
military organization, dispersed by U. 
S. troops, 416. 

Butler, Gen, M. C, connection with the 
Hamburg massacre, 314-317 ; his own 
statement of his acts and apology for 
the crime, 326, 327 ; named in find- 
ing of the coroner's jury, as an " ac- 
cessorj' before the fact " to the mur- 
ders, 328 ; course at Gov, Chamber- 
lain's meeting in Edgefield, 375, 376 ; 
chosen as U. S. Senator by the Demo- 
crats claiming to be a Legislature, 455. 

Butler, R. J. (father), Thomas (son), 
connection with Hamburg massacre, 
314, 315, 328. 

C 

Camden, meeting regarding the Whip- 
per-Moses case, 214. 



Cameron, J. D. (Secretary of War), in- 
structions to Gen. Sherman, 407. 

Canvassers, Board of State, constitution 
and duties of, with recommendations, 
24 ; recommendations renewed, 181. 

Cardozo, F. L. (State Treasurer), report 
for 1874, 47 ; attempt of the Legisla- 
ture to remove him from office, 80 ; 
strong commendation of his character 
and course by Gov. Chamberlain, 81- 
84 ; review of the charges by the News 
and Courier, 84, 85 ; failure of the at- 
tempt, a triumph for the administra- 
tion, 86 ; Gov. Chamberlain will stand 
by him to the end, 269 ; renominated, 
360 ; letter concerning joint canvass, 
397 ; counsels Gov. Chamberlain to 
discontinue the struggle, 482. 

Carpenter, R. B. (Judge Fifth Circuit), 
spokesman of the combination formed 
to defeat Gov. Chamberlain in the 
April convention, 259 ; his speech, 
262-264 ; letter to, by Gov. Chamber- 
lain, on the lynching in Edgefield 
County, 309 ; letter to, by the same on 
affairs in Edgefield County, 310, 31 1. 

Carpet-bag government, what it had ac- 
complished for South Carolina, 464, 

^465. 

Carroll, Howard, his description of Gov. 
Chamberlain's triumph in the April 
convention, 260, 261 ; relates an inci- 
dent exhibiting Gov. Chamberlain's 
character, 466. 

Cavender, T. S. , removed from office by 
Gov. Chamberlain, 252. 

Centennial of Independence of U. S., 
interest of South Carolina in, 134 ; 
Board of Centennial Commissioners 
appointed, 134 ; suitable representation 
of the State in Philadelphia urged, 182; 
reply to criticism on commission ap- 
pointed, 183. 

Certificates of indebtedness, character, 
legality, and evils of, 19. 

Chamberlain, D. H., nominated for Gov- 
ernor, 8 ; election of, 9 ; Inaugural 
Address, 10-29 ; remarks on circum- 
stances of election, 10 ; comments and 
recommendations regarding tax system, 
II ; economy recommended in all ex- 
penses, 14 ; contingent fund, 14 ; 
legislative expenses, 15 ; public print- 
ing, 17 ; deficiencies, 19 ; issue of cer- 
tificates of indebtedness, 19 ; number 
and salaries of officers, 20 ; remarks on 
condition of public debts and credit, 
20 ; bills of Bank of the State, 22 ; on 
Justices of the Peace and Constables, 



INDEX. 



529 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

23 ; on Board of State Canvassers, 24 ; 
on registration of electors, 25 ; Com- 
missioners of Election, 25 ; insurance 
deposits, 25 ; Fairfield County tax, 26 ; 
pardoning power, 26 ; education and 
schools, 26 ; nature of work before him, 
28 ; unalterably pledged to a reform 
policy, 28 ; liberal tone of Inaugural 
Address, 30 ; surprise caused by its radi- 
cal reform character, 31 ; effect on 
political parties, 32 ; dissatisfaction of 
some supporters, 33 ; signal of a com- 
ing struggle, 34 ; comments of the press, 
34-37 ; first contest with Republicans 
of the Legislature, 38 ; goes into Re- 
publican caucus to oppose the election 
of W. J. Whipper as judge, 39 ; his 
speech, 39-41 ; Whipper beaten, 41 ; 
approves an unsatisfactory appropria- 
tion bill, 42 ; Message on the subject, 
43 ; action in the caucus described in 
a letter by Col. C. P. Pelham, 44, 45 ; 
a teacher of the Legislature, 46 ; mes- 
sage of Jan. 12, 1875, supplementary 
to Inaugural Address, 47-61 ; remarks 
on delay of annual reports, 47 ; on im- 
portance of keeping State expenses 
within receipts, 48 ; overdrawn war- 
rants, 48 ; Comptroller's Report, 48 ; 
delinquent County Treasurers, 49 ; 
Thomas W. Price Co.'s claims, 49 ; 
bonds of County Auditors and Treas- 
urers, 49 ; insurance deposits, 50 ; ex- 
tension of time for collecting taxes, 50; 
lunatic asvlum, 51 ; penitentiary, 52 ; 
National Prison Association, 53 ; or- 
phan asylum, 54 ; education of deaf, 
dumb, and blind, 54 ; Report of Secre- 
tary of State, 54 ; Adjutant and In- 
spector General, 54 ; State Librarian, 

54 ; education and the school system, 

55 ; Report of Attorney General, 56 ; 
county finances, 57 ; floating indebted- 
ness, with important recommendations, 
57, 58 ; fish culture, 59 ; minority 
representation, 59 ; economy and re- 
duction of expenses, 59 ; mode of 
selecting County Auditors and Treas- 
urers, 59 ; Justices of the Peace and 
Constables, with urgent recommenda- 
tion to carry out the requirement of 
the Constitution, 60 ; registration of 
electors with similar recommendation, 
61 ; obligation to prosecute reforms 
not affected by party interest, 61 ; 
communication to Senate regarding 
appointments of Trial Justices, 66, 67 ; 
issues proclamation regarding disorders 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

in Edgefield County, and commands 
the (colored) militia companies to sur- 
render their arms, 69 ; writes a let- 
ter to Chairman of Senate Commit- 
tee on Finance showing how ap- 
propriations may be reduced, 71-73 ; 
vetoes bill for increased taxation in 
Edgefield County, 74-76; is "not 
so anxious to make friends or avoid 
enemies as to do right," 81 ; vig- 
orously defends State-Treasurer Car- 
dozo against charges preferred in the 
Legislature, 81-84 '> pressure exerted 
to make him abandon his reform 
policy, 82 ; requires the removal of the 
bulk of the State's funds from Hardy 
Solomon's bank and their distribution 
among five other banks, 88 ; veto of a 
bill requiring all State funds to be de- 
posited in two designated banks, one 
of them Solomon's, S9-94 ; veto of the 
"bonanza bill," "public duty is my 
only master," 94-98 ; indignation of 
the corruptionists, 98 ; veto of the bill 
disturbing the settlement of the public 
debt, " I, at least, must stand by my 
pledges," 99-102 ; veto of the Annual 
Tax and Supply Bill determined upon, 
102 ; views regarding the custody of 
public funds, 89-94 ; views regarding 
settlement of claims against the State 
(floating debt), 94-98 ; vetoes 19 bills 
during the session, 104 ; great change 
wrought in public opinion regarding 
him, 105 ; Nczus and Courier fully re- 
tracts its former judgment of him, 106- 
108 ; avers its belief that his record as 
Attorney General was honest, 107 ; 
hostile attitude of Anderson Intelli~ 
gencer, 109 ; Gov. Chamberlain praised 
by papers in and out of the State, 108— 
113 ; complimented by the Grand Jury 
of Fairfield County, ill ; his policy 
commended by R. T. Greener, 113 ; by 
Hon. Amasa Walker, 114; honorabe 
courtesies shown, I15 ; hopeful view of 
future of South Carolina expressed in 
letter to N. E. Society of Charleston, 
116 ; letter to the same Society, March 
16, 1875, 117; letter to Richard Briggs, 
of Boston, 118 ; attends centennial 
celebration of battle of Lexington, 119; 
his address, 1 19-125 ; letter declining 
invitation to banquet of German Fusi- 
liers, 125-127 ; declines invitation to 
deliver address at commencement of 
Erskine College, 128 ; attends centen- 
nial celebration of Mechlenburg (N. C.) 



530 



INDEX. 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

Declaration of Independence, 128 ; his 
address, 129-131 ; presentation of a 
flag to the Washington Light Infantry 
of Charleston, 132 ; goes to New 
Haven to deliver oration before the 
Law School of Yale College, 133 ; 
action regarding participation of South 
Carolina in centennial exhibition at 
Philadelphia, appoints commissioners, 
134 ; addresses the Barnwell County 
Agricultural Society 133; delivers ora- 
tion at Greenville on classical studies, 
136; extract, 137-139; effort to improve 
the character of appointed ofiScers, 140; 
action in the case of missing ballots in 
Blackwell, 141 ; subjected to defama- 
tion in the N. Y. Szin, 141 ; defended by 
the News and Courier, 142-144 ; letter 
to II. II. Kimpton on railroad business, 
143 ; the Sun's attacks strengthen the 
Republican corruptionists, 144 ; failure 
of S. C. Bank and Trust Co., 145 ; at- 
tempt to involve Gov. Chamberlain 
with Niles G. Parker in wrongdoing, 
145 ; conversation with a representa- 
tive of the News and Courier on public 
questions, denies any guilty complicity 
with Parker, prosecution of unfaithful 
officials, failure of Solomon's bank, 
parties in South Carolina, relations 
with national administration, the tax 
bill, 146-150 ; press comments on this 
talk, 151, 152 ; visits Charleston, 152 ; 
addresses great meeting of Republican 
clubs, .defines the nature and extent 
of his party fealty, asserts that the 
interests of the two races are identical, 
enforces the paramount necessity of re- 
duction of taxation and honest ex- 
penditures, 152-156 ; invited to visit 
the Chamber of Commerce, address of 
welcome by President Tupper, 157 ; 
reply by Gov. Chamberlain, 158 ; press 
comments on the Charleston speech, 
159, 160 ; appoints a thanksgiving 
day, 160 ; Second Annual Message, 
162-184 ! remarks on taxation, 163 ; 
expenditures, 164 ; legislative ex- 
penses, 164-166 ; appropriations and 
deficiencies, 166 ; failure of S. C. 
Bank and Trust Co., and safety of the 
State deposits, 167, 168 ; the public 
debt, 168, 169 ; County finances, 169 ; 
Report of Comptroller General, 170 ; 
of Secretary of State, 171 ; of At- 
torney General, 171 ; of Superintend- 
ent of Education, 172 ; Adjutant and 
Inspector General, 175 ; State Libra- 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

rian, 175 ; public institutions, 175— 
179; health of the State, 179; on 
constitutional provisions for election of 
Justices of the Peace, and for registra- 
tion, 180; on minority representation 
180 ; on Board of State Canvassers, 
i8x ; State Agricultural Society, 181 ; 
Governor's residence, 181 ; monument 
to Palmetto Regiment, 182 ; election 
of judges, 182 ; national centennial, 
184, 1S5 ; on duties immediately urgent, 
183, 184; Message vetoing Supply Bill, 
with statement in detail of reductions 
possible, 1S4-190 ; conversation with 
editor of News and Courier, regarding 
the election of Whipper and Moses as 
judges " a horrible disaster," 194-196 ; 
refuses to sign their commissions on 
the ground that the terms of incumbents 
do not expire, 196, 197 ; his impeach- 
ment proposed, 198 ; reply to despatch 
from Charleston bankers and mer- 
chants ; ' ' the issue rises higher than 
party," 200 ; despatch to the New Eng- 
land Society; "civilization in peril," 
200, 201; course approved by great pop- 
ular meetings of the conservative party, 
201-215 ; 'lis reply to the bar of 
Orangeburg, 209 ; issues new com- 
missions to Judges Reed and Shaw, 
217 ; issues proclamation of warning, 
respecting violence contemplated by* 
Whipper, 218, 219 ; his action as af- 
fecting parties, State and National, 
220-227 I letter to the President on the 
political aspects of the election of 
Whipper and Moses, 228, 229 ; letter 
to Senator Morton regarding aspersions 
on his fidelity to the Republican party, 
229-234 ; letter to Dr. H. B. Black- 
well, 235 ; vigorous prosecution of ' 
economic reforms, 244 ; letter to the 
Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives suggesting reductions in the ap- 
propriation bill, as reported, especially 
in salaries, 245-247 ; appears before 
the Committee of Ways and Means 
and shows how taxes and appropria- 
tions may be greatly reduced, 247-249 ; 
advises reduction of all salaries in 
executive department, 247 ; his sug- 
gestions adopted, 250 ; a great week's- 
work, 251 ; removes T. S. Cavender 
from office for cause, 252; his course in 
pardon cases, 252, 253 ; letter to citi- 
zens of Colleton County in the case of 
Joseph Corley, 253 ; statement in case 
of Denis R. Bunch, 254-256 ; state- 



INDEX. 



531 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

ment in case of George Hardee, 256 ; 
letter to Judge Reed regarding action 
of Lieutenant-Governor Gleaves in case 
of Joseph Gibbes, 257 ; a candidate for 
delegate to the Republican National 
Convention, 258 ; powerful hostile 
combination, 258, 259 ; his remarkable 
victory, 260, 261 ; reply to Judge Car- 
penter's attack, 265-269 ; proposes the 
instructions adopted, 270 ; course in 
the national convention, 271 ; effect 
of his success on Democratic party, 
272 ; record of Gov. Chamberlain as 
presented by the News and Cottrier, 
279-306 ; condition of the State before 
his election, 281, 282 ; his pledges to 
the public, 282, 283 ; his record re- 
garding minority representation, 283 ; 
election of Justices of the Peace, 284 ; 
registration of electors, 285 ; the par- 
doning power, 286-288 ; executive ap- 
pointments, 2S8, 289 ; the Consolidation 
Act, 2go ; the veto power, 290, 291 ; 
the Solomon Bank, 292-294 ; the "bo- 
nanza" bill, 294-296; the tax laws, 
296, 297 ; contingent funds, 297 ; 
legislative expenses, 298 ; legislative 
contingent expenses, 299 ; public print- 
ing, 300 ; salaries, 301-303 ; taxation, 

303 ; deficiencies, 304 ; county finances, 

304 ; summary, saving actually effected, 
$1,719,488, 304-306 ; proclamation 
regarding the shooting, by a mob, of six 
persons under arrest for murder in 
Edgefield County, 307, 308 ; letter to 
Judge Carpenter on the same subject, 
309 ; another letter to the same re- 
specting the administration of justice 
in Edgefield County, 310, 311 ; the 
Hamburg massacre and its effect on his 
relations with the white men's party, 
312, 313 ; Gov. Chamberlain would 
protect rights of all impartially, 313 ; 
letter to Senator Robertson reciting the 
circumstancesof tiie Hamburgmassacre, 
318-320 ; letter to President Grant on 
the motives and consequences of the 
Hamburg affair, 321-325 ; Judge Maher 
and George W. Williams decline to be 
candidates against Gov. Chamberlain, 
and say he should not be opposed, 332- 
334 ; Gov. Chamberlain not voted for 
in the Democratic convention, 336 ; 
action respecting strikes of plantation 
hands in Colleton and Beaufort coun- 
ties, 340, 341 ; remarks at banejuet to 
the State's guests in Charleston, 342, 
343 ; response to compliment of the 



C\\aTahex\!i\\\— Continued. 

Charleston Riflemen, 343 ; introduc- 
tory address at the Fort Moultrie 
centennial, 344, 345 ; exchange of com- 
pliments with General Kershaw, 345 ; 
begins a canvass of the State in support 
of the National Republican party, 
speaking first in Beaufort, 345 ; why 
he is a Republican, 346 ; reform in 
South Carolina, 347; a candidate for re- 
nomination on a reform platform, 348 ; 
comment on Hamburg, 348 ; difficulties 
and perils of the canvass, 349, 350 ; 
his plan for appointing Commissioners 
of Election, 350; condemns theCharles- 
ton riot, 351 ; renominated against 
bitter opposition, 355 ; speech after 
nomination; "no step backwards," 
357—360 ; answer to Neivs and Courier s 
appeal to leave the Republican party, 
361—363 ; reply to political letter and 
challenge of A. C. Haskell, 366-388 ; 
ready to meet Gen. Hampton in joint 
debate, 366 ; summary of Democratic 
contention, 366, 367 ; denies making 
slanderous statements, 368 ; reform 
record and present position, 368-370 ; 
personally concerned in preparing dec- 
larations of platform on reform, 370 ; 
nominated on the sole issue of reform, 
370 ; significance of General Elliott's 
nomination, 370, 371 ; regarding Whip- 
per and Moses, 372-374 ; personal ex- 
periences of the "peaceful agencies" 
employed by Democrats, 374-380 ; 
intimidation by unlawful proscription, 
380-382 ; by unlawful military organ- 
izations, 3S3 ; by assassination and 
other criminal violence, 3S4-387 ; de- 
clines to commit the keeping of the 
peace to its violators, 387 ; proclama- 
tion calling upon the rifle clubs to dis- 
band, 389, 390 ; issues an address to 
the public on the condition of South 
Carolina, 391 ; abandonment of joint 
debates, 393-397 ; application to the 
President for aid in suppressing the 
domestic violence, 406 ; letter to N. Y. 
Tribune explaining the necessity of the 
call, 407-416 ; no time to assemble 
the Legislature, 408 ; the fact of vio- 
lence which the authorities are unable 
to prevent, 409 ; the partisan military 
organizations, their numbers and 
crimes, 409, 410 ; corrected account of 
the Ellenton assassinations, 411 ; false 
representations, 415 ; letter to A. G. 
Magrath and W. F. DeSaussure, who 
applied for United States troops to pro- 



53^ 



INDEX. 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

tect the white citizens in Charleston 
County, 421 ; letter to N. Y. Tribune 
correcting misstatements of Senator 
Randolph, 422-426 ; concerning regis- 
tration, 422 ; alleged statements of the 
judges, 423 ; alleged sources of infor- 
mation, 423 ; Board of Election Com- 
missioners, 424 ; attitude of United 
Stales officers and State judiciary, 424 ; 
aspiration for U. S. Senatorship, 425 ; 
proclamation of November 1st, regard- 
ing the election, 426 ; a quiet election 
428 ; the result disputed, 428-435 ; 
talk with correspondent of N. Y. '1 iines 
on the organization of the Legislature, 
438 ; despatch to the President, 439 ; 
despatch to N. Y. Tribune correcting 
misstatements of Gen. Gordon concern- 
ing military occupation of the State- 
house, etc., 442-444 ; his election as- 
certained and declared by the Legis- 
lature, 444 ; Second Inaugural Address, 
significance of the crisis, perils, and du- 
ties of the hour, 445-447 ; estimate of 
character and services of, by Rochester 
Democrat, 447, 44S ; answer to denial 
by Gen. Hampton that he had said he 
held CjOv. Chamberlain's life in his 
hand, 449 ; Letter to N. Y. Tribune 
correcting further misrepresentations 
by Gen. Gordon regarding the use of 
troops and the organization of the 
Legislature, 451-454 ; reply to demand 
of Gen. Hampton that the State seal, 
etc., be delivered up to him, ^(55 ; 
repudiates the idea of a compromise, 
will accept no place or office as the 
price of yielding, 456 ; reported con- 
versation with Mr. Redpath on the sit- 
uation, 458-465 ; the existing situation 
in its legal aspects, 458 ; the terrorism 
and frauds of the election, 460 ; the 
actual and the pretended Legislature, 
462, what "carpet-bag" government 
had accomplished in South Carolina, 
464 ; motive of his political service, 
466 ; touching incident of the last days, 
466 ; recognized and supported as Gov- 
ernor by President Grant, 468 ; expec- 
tations regarding Gov. Hayes' course if 
he became President, 468 ; letter from 
Stanley Matthews and Wm. M. Evarts 
despatched on the day of President 
Hayes' inauguration, 469 ; reply to the 
same, 470 ; despatch to D. T. Corbin 
asking explanation, 471 ; invited to 
Washington for conference, 472 ; con- 
ferences with the President and Cabinet, 



Chamberlain — Continued. 

473 ; letter to the President submitting 
reasons why troops should not be with- 
drawn from the Statehouse, 474-477 ; 
proposal to submit the issue of the elec- 
tion to a competent tribunal, 478 ; the 
President determines to withdraw the 
troops April loth, 479 ; the order pro- 
mulgated, 480 ; address to Republicans 
of South Carolina on surrendering his 
office, 4S0, 482 ; correspondence with 
Hampton regarding lime of transfer, 
483 ; the final scene, 4S6. In Appen- 
dix : Statements concerning charges of 
personal and official corruption, 491- 
501 ; attitude respecting nomination 
for Governor in 1874, 491 ; indictment 
in 1S78, and disposition thereof, 502, 
503 ; reflections upon his defeat in let- 
ter to Wm. Lloyd Garrison (June II, 
1877), 504 ; reflections upon his work 
in South Carolina in letter to Hon. B. 
O. Duncan (Aug. 25, 1882), 505 ; in- 
teresting interview with Judge McGrath 
and Mr. Campbell, 505 ; comment on 
his indictment, 506 ; a discussion of 
President Hayes' Southern policy (ad- 
dress at Woodstock, Conn., July 4, 
1S77), 507-520 ; biographical sketch, 

524- 

Chamberlain, Rev. L. T., D.D., tribute 
to, by Gov. Chamberlain, 138. 

Charleston, founded in 1680, I ; visit of 
Gov. Chamberlain to, speeches, recep- 
tion by Chamber of Commerce, 152- 
158 ; bankers and merchants thank 
Gov. Chamberlain for refusal to sign 
commissions of Whipper and Moses, 
199, 200 ; great meeting of white citi- 
zens to approve his course, 201-209 ; 
political riot, Sept. 6, 351 ; offers force 
of volunteers to suppress disorders of 
the strikers in Combahee district, 
341 ; presence of United States troops 
desired for protection of whites, 
421. 

Chesnut, Gen. J., presides over Camden 
meeting, 214. 

Christian Register (newspaper), Boston, 
Mass., was wrong in distrusting Gov. 
Chamberlain, 112; comment on de- 
spatch to Kew England Society 239. 

Chronicle (newspaper), Washington, I^. 
C, Gov. Chamberlain's eloquence, let- 
ter of J. F. Keegan, 261. 

Claflin, Gov. Wm., a reported opinion 
of, 235. 

Cochran, J. R., appointed commissioner, 
•134. 



INDEX. 



533 



Coker, S. P., account^ of his murder, 3S5 ; 
412, 413 ; 417. 

Colleton County, strike of plantation 
hands, 340. 

Colored race, the, wrong training in poli- 
tics, 3S ; their equal interest in honest 
and economical government, 154 ; in- 
vite renewal of animosity of whites, 
198 ; Nezos and Courier says its voting 
majority can be overcome only by armed 
force, 275 ; why they do not return vio- 
lence with violence, 322, 326 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain's confidence in their de- 
sire for good government, 357 ; their 
abuse of power made their exclusion 
possible, 4S6. 

Co?nmerce, Journal of (newspaper), 
Charleston, S. C, intemperate advocate 
of the " Straight-out " policy, 399. 

Commercial (newspaper), Cincinnati, O., 
reports conversation with Gov. Cham- 
berlain about Trial Justices, 140 ; its 
correspondent in South Carolina pre- 
dicts political revolution in conse- 
quence of election of Moses and 
Whipper, 220 ; describes the purpose 
of the rifle clubs, 350 ; estimate of 
Gov. Chamberlain's character and mo- 
tives by H. V. Redfield, 466. 

Commissioners of Election, Governor's 
power regarding, 25 ; Gov. Chamber- 
lain announces his plan for appoint- 
ment of, 350 ; both parties represented 
at each polling place, 428. 

Comptroller General, report of, for 1S74, 
48 ; vacancy in office of, 50. 

Congress, coinmittees of, visit Columbia, 

Conkling, R., candidate for nomination 

for President, 226. 
Conner, Gen. J., speech at Charleston 

meeting to sustain Gov. Chamberlain, 

202, 203. 
Conservative party. See Democratic 

party. 
CiS'«j£'rz'(7/fr (newspaper), Anderson, S.C., 

35- 

Consolidation Act, passed Dec, 1873, 
terms of, 7 ; Gov. Chamberlain's rec- 
ord on, 290. See Debt. 

Constables. See Justices of the Peace. 

Constitution of South Carolina, formation 
and adoption of new constitution, 6 ; 
protest made to Congress against ap- 
proval of, 6 ; provisions regarding taxa- 
tion, II ; amendment of, prohibiting 
increase of debt, 21 ; provisions re- 
garding Justices of the Peace, etc., 
23 ; registration of electors, 25. . 



Constitutionalist (newspaper), Augusta, 
Ga. , commends Gov. Chamberlain, 
112 ; taunts people of South Carolina 
for submission, 242. 

Contingent funds, extravagant and de- 
moralizing, 14; great reductions in, 164; 
accountability for, 164, 165 ; further 
reduction advised, 248 ; Gov. Cham- 
berlain's record regarding, 297. 

Cooperationists. See Democratic party. 

Corbin, D. T., counsel in the Hamburg 
cases, 329 ; elected U. S. Senator, his 
life and character, 455 ; despatch to, 
by Gov. Chamberlain, 471 ; letter to 
Mr. Blaine, 471 ; one of the signers of 
a letter to the President, 478. 

Counties, Boards of Treasurers and Au- 
ditors of, 20 ; delinquent treasurers 
of, 49 ; Treasurers and Auditors re- 
quired to give sufficient bonds, 49 ; 
finances, deplorable condition of, with 
recommendations, 57 ; reform in mode 
of selection of Auditors and Treasurers 
urged, 59 ; large debts caused by im- 
providence and dishonesty of county 
officials, 76 ; improvement in financial 
condition of, 169 ; floating debts of, 
169 ; County Commissioners should be 
required to make specific levies, 169 ; 
reduction of pay of School Commis- 
sioners, Treasurers and Auditors, rec- 
ommended, 246 ; 248 ; Gov. Cham- 
berlain's record on county finances, 

304- 

Courant (newspaper), Hartford, Conn., 
comment on the Whipper-Moses af- 
fair, 239. 

Courier-Journal (newspaper), Aiken, S. 

c., 35. 

Courier-Journal (newspaper), Louisville, 
Ky., action of Gov. Chamberlain prom- 
ising, 239. 

Ccwr/tv- (newspaper), Keowee, S. C, 64. 

Court, Supreme, of South Carolina, deci- 
sion of, affecting Consolidation Act, 
21 ; decisions regarding the term of 
judges, 197 ; its three Justices, 429 ; 
proceedings of, on application to direct 
the proceedings of State Canvassers, 
430-434 ; probable purpose of its pecu- 
liar course, 434 ; decisions of, mis- 
represented by Gen. Gordon, 452. 

Credit, public, loss of, a sad calamity, 
22. 

Crews," Joe," member of Legislature, 41. 

D 

Deaf, dumb, and blind, institution for 
the, 174. 



534 



fXJ)EX. 



Debt, public, of South Carolina, at the 
lieginning and close of Gov. Scott's 
administration, 7 ; consolidation of, 
1873, 7 i statement of, by Gov. Cham- 
berlain, in Inaugural Address, 20-22 ; 
Consolidation Act approved by both 
parties, 21 ; increase of, prohibited by 
Constitution, 21 ; summary of expenses 
and obligations incurred during pre- 
vious administrations, 29 ; Gov. Cham- 
berlain on the floating-debt, 57, 58 ; 
veto of floating-debt settlement (" bon- 
anza " bill), 94 ; veto of bill to change 
the conditions of settlement of funded 
debt, 99 ; jirogress under the Consoli- 
dation Act, 168 ; Ciov. Chamberlain's 
plan for settlement of floating debt, 
i6g ; should be provided for in a sep- 
arate Act, 190 ; bills for settling the 
floating debt, " bonanza," passed, 251 ; 
Gov. Chamberlain's record on the Con- 
solidation Act, 290; record on "bo- 
nanza " bills, 294-296 ; reply of Gov- 
Chamberlain to charges that while At- 
torney General (i 868-1 872) he had 
lieen guilty of fraudulent courses in 
the funding of, 493, 497-499. 

Deficiencies, extent of, 19 ; disapproved 
by Gov. Chamberlain, 19 ; General 
Assembly urged to prevent further in- 
crease of, 167 ; evils of, 1S5 ; amount 
of, to be provided for in supply bill, 
186, 187 ; tax levy should equal appro- 
priations, 189 ; Gov. Chamberlain's 
record regarding, 304. 

Z)tv«ffrrt^ (newspaper), Rochester, N. Y., 
appreciative estimate of Gov. Cham- 
berlain, 447. 

Democratic party (called, also. Conser- 
vative party and White Man's party), 
]3rotest against Reconstruction Acts, 
6 ; protest against approval by Con- 
gress of new constitution of South 
Carolina, 6 ; supports Judge Green 
for Governor in 1874, 8 ; mem- 
liers of, in Legislature of 1868, 7 ; 
members in Legislature chosen with 
Gov. Chamberlain, g ; pleased by Gov. 
Chamberlain's Inaugural Address, 32 ; 
Northern Democrats less just than 
Southern, 32 ; Democrats in Legisla- 
ture aid the Governor's friends to de- 
feat Whipper. 41 ; attitude of Conser- 
vatives towards reform commended by 
Governor Chamberlain, 149, 150 ; re- 
organization of, as result of election of 
Whipper and Moses, 195, 220 ; the 
two wings of the party, 223-225 ; " Co- 
operationists " and "Straight-outs," 



272, 274 ; address of Democratic State 
Committee, thorough organization pro- 
posed, 273, 274 ; attitude of the " Co- 
operationists " defined, 274-278 ; effect 
of Hamburg massacre on the party's 
attitude toward Gov. Chamberlain, 
312, 313 ; the massacre the work of 
Democrats, 322 ; regarded as a politi- 
cal advantage to the party, 323 ; State 
nominating convention called for Au- 
gust 15th, 331 ; the " Cooperationists " 
surprised, 331 ; Judge Maher and G. 
W. Williams refuse to be candidates 
against Gov. Chamberlain, 332-334 ; 
Struggle between the " Cooperation- 
ists " and "Straight-outs," "Watch 
and wait," 335 ; Success of the 
" Straight-outs," Wade Hampton nom- 
inated, 335, 336 ; causes of this result, 
336 ; indictment of, in Republican 
platform of 1876, 354, 355 ; policy re- 
viewed by Gov. Chamberlain, 372- 
374 ; violent and unlawful agencies 
of, exposed, 374-387 ; electioneering 
methods of, described by a South 
Carolinian, 398-401 ; the motives and 
course of, characterized by Mr. Gar- 
rison, 402-405 ; set forth by Gov. 
Chamberlain in letter to New York 
Tribune, 407-416; by Harper's Weekly, 
418 ; by B. O. Duncan, 419-421. 

Dennis, J. B., Sup't. of Penitentiary, re- 
moval by Gov. Chamberlain, ill ; al- 
leged to have command of the U. S. 
Army, 437 ; alleged to give instructions 
to U. S. soldiers, 440 ; his real office, 
452. 

DeSaussure, W. F., applies to Gov. 
Chamberlain for military protection of 
Democrats in Charleston County, 
421. 

De Treville, W. J., letter to Gov. Cham- 
berlain in behalf of bar of Orange- 
burg, 209. 

Dispatch (newspaper), Lexington, S. C, 

63. 

Dosier, R., presides at Georgetown meet- 
ing, 209. 

Drafts on treasury in excess of appro- 
priations, 48. 

Dudley, C. W., appointed commissioner, 

1 34-' 
Duncan, B. O., letter to News and 
Courieron political situation, 434 ; let- 
ter to Gov. Chamberlain on political 
situation, October, 1S76, 419 ; letter 
to, by Gov. Chamberlain regarding his 
work in South Carolina (Aug. 1882), 
505. 



INDEX. 



535 



Duncan, D. R., appointed commissioner, 

134- 
Dunn, T. C. (Comptroller General), ap- 
pointed receiver of South Carolina 
Bank and Trust Company, 167 ; candi- 
date for nomination for Governor 
against Gov. Chamberlain, 356 ; re- 
nominated for Comptroller General, 
360 ; counsels Gov. Chamberlain to 
discontinue the struggle, 482. 



E 



Economy, and honesty, paramount duties, 
II ; measures of, insisted upon, 59; Gov. 
Chamberlain advocates in Charles- 
ton, 154, 155 ; gratifying progress in 
reducing expenditures, 164 ; further 
reductions urged, 165, 166 ; compre- 
hensive scheme for reducing in veto of 
supply bill, 184-igo ; letter of Gov. 
Chamberlain to Speaker Elliott on re- 
trenchment of appropriations, 245-247; 
Gov. Chamberlain shovv's Committee of 
Ways- and Means how the tax levy 
may be reduced from lo mills to 8 
mills, 247-249 ; tax and appropria- 
tion bills for 1876 the lightest for 
many years, 251 ; Gov. Chamberlain's 
record regarding legislative expenses, 
saving effected, 298—300 ; saving in 
public printing expenses, 300, 301 ; 
summary of savings effected in two 
^ years, 305, 306. 

Edgefield County, outbreak of race an- 
tagonism, 167 ; Proclamation concern- 
ing, 68 ; bill for increased taxation 
in, vetoed, 74 ! alleged mismanage- 
ment of finances of, 75 ; hotbed of 
"Straight-out" sentiment, 307 ; chronic 
lawlessness of, 307 ; six negroes taken 
from the sheriff and shot to death, a 
Proclamation by the Governor concern- 
ing! 307, 308 ; Judge Carpenter's at- 
tention called to the affair, 309 ; Judge 
Carpenter urged by Gov. Chamberlain 
to do all that may be done to prevent 
just complaints, 310, 311 ; Republican 
meeting in, 375-377- 

Edict of Nantes, effect of revocation of, 
on South Carolina, 2. 

Education, remarks on and recommenda- 
tions by Gov. Chamberlain, 26 ; statis- 
tics and further recommendations, 55 ; 
statistics for 1875 and further recom- 
mendations, 172-174 ; public schools 
first estalilished in .South Carolina by 
the Republican party, 465. 

Election of 1876, accomplished without 



bloodshed, the result long doubtful, 
429 ; intense excitement in the nation, 
429 ; Supreme Court of the State asked 
I to enjoin the Board of State Canvassers 
I from canvassing the vote, 429 ; queer 
proceedings of the court, 430-433 ; 
I result declared by the Board before 
I the court's order is secured, 433 ; re- 
turns for Edgefield and Laurens 
counties not counted, 433 ; members 
of the Board committed for contempt, 
434 ; certificates issued by Secretary of 
State, in accordance with determina- 
tion of the State Canvassers, 435 ; Re- 
publican majority in both branches of 
Legislature, 436 ; Legislature declares 
the Republican candidates for Gover- 
nor and Lieutenant Governor elected, 
444 ; methods and character of the 
fraud in Edgefield and Laurens coun- 
ties, 460-462. 
Ellenton riot and massacre, the, started 
at Ellenton, in Aiken County, 365 ; 
described by Gov. Chamberlain in let- 
ter to Col. Haskell, 385, 386 ; in letter 
to the public, 391 ; by U. S. District 
Attorney, D. T. Corbin, 392. 
Elliott, R. B. (Speaker, House of Repre- 
sentatives), part in plot to elect Whipper 
and Moses, 194 ; position and influence 
of, 19S ; supports an improper election 
bill, 251 ; denounces Whipper, 251 ; 
opposes Gov. Chamberlain in the April 
convention, 259 ; opposes renomina- 
tion of Gov. Chamberlain, 355 ; is 
nominated for Attorney General, 360 ; 
on this account Gov. Chamberlain 
called upon to withdraw from Republi- 
can ticket, 360; his answer as to Elliott, 
362 ; bearing of the nomination on the 
question of reform, 370, 371 ; corre- 
spondence with A. C. Haskell regarding 
joint debates ; 392-397 ; statement of 
conversation had with Gen. Hampton, 
449 ; receives votes for United States 
Senator, 455 ; counsels Gov. Chamber- 
lain to discontinue the struggle, 482 ; 
his nomination in 1876 a burden, 505. 
Enqtiirer (newspaper), Richmond, Va., 

commends Gov, Chamberlain, 112. 
^w^z^2>(?r (newspaper), Yorkville, S. C, 

Enterprise and Mounta7?tL'c'r{we.\\s\iaY'^Y), 
Greenville, S. C, commends message 
of January 12, 1875, 63 ; commends his 
Charleston speech, 159. 

Erskine College, Gov. Chamberlain in- 
vited to deliver an address at, 128. 

Evarts, W. M., postcript to letter of 



536 



INDEX. 



Stanley Matthews to Gov. Chamber- 
lain, 469 ; a message to Mr. Blaine, 
through Major Corbin, 471. 
Kxpcnditures. See Economy. 



Fairfield County, special tax in, 26. 

J'^armer and Merchant (newspaper), 
Marion, S. C, commends Gov. Cham- 
berlain, III. 

Ferguson, Gen., drill master in Missis- 
sippi tactics, 373. 

Fish culture, 59. 

Foster, Charles, with Stanley Matthews, 
gives assurance of their and Gov. 
Hayes' devotion to the policy of non- 
interference with affairs of the South- 
ern States, 472. 

Frazer, T. B,, presides at meeting in 
Sumter, 210. 

Fusiliers, German, Charleston, letter to, 
by Gov. Chamberlain, 125. 



G. 



Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, open letter to 
Gov. Chamberlain, Oct. 13, 1876, 
402-405 ; letter of Gov. Chamberlain 
to, regarding conditions of his defeat, 
504- 

Gary, M. W., attempts to break up Re- 
publican meeting, 375, 376 ; addresses 
Democratic meeting in Columbia, 438; 
receives complimentary votes in the ir- 
regular Legislature, 455. 

Gazette (newspaper), Cincinnati, O., 
commends Gov. Chamberlain, 112 ; 
commends letter to Senator Morton, 
240. 

General Assembly, character of that 
chosen in 1868, 7 ; character of that 
chosen in 1874, 9 ; extravagant cost 
of sessions of, 15 ; specific reductions of 
expenses of, recommended, 15-17 ; 
elects J. P. Reed judge, 41 ; elects 
Major Shaw judge, 42 ; passes an ob- 
jectionable appropriation bill, 42 ; at- 
tempt to effect the removal of State 
Treasurer Cardozo, its motive and fail- 
ure, 80-87 ; series of mischievous meas- 
ures passed, 88 ; indignation over veto 
of the "bonanza bill," 98; futile at- 
tempt to hold the veto ineffectual, 98 ; 
adjournment, 104 ; nineteen bills ve- 
toed during the first session, all of 
which failed to pass, 104 ; meeting of 
for session of 1875-76, 161 ; election 
of circuit judges, including Whipper 



and Moses, 192 ; how accomplished, 
193, 194 ; saving in expenses effected 
by Gov. Chamberlain's efforts, 298— 
300 ; constitution of the new, by deter- 
mination of .State Canvassers, 435, 436; 
meeting of, with a quorum and Repub- 
lican majority in both branches, 436 ; 
protest of Democratic members and 
others, 436, 437 ; withdrawal and or- 
ganization of a separate body, 437 ; 
Gov. Chamberlain's comments on these 
proceedings, 43S ; the Democratic body 
forces its way into the House of Repre- 
sentatives, 439 ; notified by Gen. Ru- 
ger that none but members would be 
allowed on the floor, 440 ; protest of 
Senator Gordon, of Georgia, and oth- 
ers, 440 ; votes for Governor and Lieu- 
tenant Governor canvassed, the result, 
444 ; election of United States Senator, 
455 ! Gov. Chamberlain explains the 
situation as respects the Legislature, 
45S-460, 462-464. 

Georgetown, S. C, meeting to sustain 
Gov. Chamberlain in Whipper-Moses 
case, 20g, 

Gleaves, R. H. (Lt. Gov.), interference 
of, with the course of justice, 257 ; 
renominated, 360. 

Gordon, J. B. (U. S. Senator), in Col- 
umbia after election of 1876, 441 ; mis- 
representations by, contradicted by 
Gov. Chamberlain, 442-444 ; further 
statements by, contradicted, 451-454. 

Grange, The (newspaper), 63. 

Grant, U. S., President, not candidate 
for a third term, 226 ; Gov. Chamber- , 
Iain's letter to, about Moses and Whip- 
per, 228, 229 ; letter of Gov. Chamber- 
lain to, on the Hamburg massacre, 321— 
325 ; the President's reply, 325, 326 ; 
proclamation commanding the rifle 
clubs to disperse, 406 ; recognizes 
and supports Gov. Chamberlain in 
his office until the end of his term, 
468. 

Green, John T. (Judge), candidate for 
Governor, 8 ; vote for, 9. 

Greener, R. T., letter to Boston Com- 
monwealth on Gov. Chamberlain's 
policy, 113, 114. 

Greenville, visit to of Gov. Chamberlain 
to deliver oration, 136. 

H 

Hagood, Gen. J., presides at Barnwell 
meeting, 211 ; his report of results of 
Ellenton riot, 385 ; commander of a 
body of rifle cIuIjs, 417. 



INDEX. 



537 



Hamburg, S. C, the massacre there, 
July 8, 1876, and related matters, 
312-330 ; reference to, in Beaufort 
speech, 34S ; reference to, in letter to 
Col. Haskell, 384. 

Hampton, Gen. Wade, favorite of the 
"Straight-outs,'' 332; nominated by 
the Democratic convention for Gov- 
ernor, 336 ; how the nomination was 
regarded at the North, 337 ; remarks 
at Charleston banquet, 343 ; qualifica- 
tions for leading a campaign on the 
" Mississippi plan," 401 ; Mr. Garri- 
son on the significance of his nomina- 
tion for Governor, 405 ; address from 
steps of Statehouse, 437; signer of let- 
ter to Gen. Ruger, 441 ; publishes de- 
nial of a statement in Gov. Chamber- 
lain's Inaugural Address, 449 ; is de- 
clared elected Governor by the body 
of Democrats claiming to be the Legis- 
lature, 454 ; makes demand on Gov. 
Chamberlain to surrender the executive 
office, 454 ; majority claimed for, 458 ; 
speech on departure to Washington, 
473 ; interview with Postmaster Gen- 
eral Key, assurances given that Gov. 
Chamberlain shall not suffer violence, 

479- , 

Harper s Weekly (newspaper) commends 
Gov. Chamberlain's Inaugural Address, 
35 ; comment on the Whipper-Moses 
case, 237 ; on Gov. Chamberlain's let- 
ter to Col. Haskell, 389 ; comments 
on the President's proclamation and 
" Shotgun Reform," 418. 

Haskell, A. C, Chairman Democratic 
State Committee, addresses political 
letter to Gov. Chamberlain, 365 ; cor- 
respondence with R. B. Elliott, regard- 
ing joint debate, 392-397 ; signer of 
letter to Gen. Ruger, 441 ; bearer of 
the 4th of March letter of Stanley 
Matthews and Wm. M. Evarts to Gov. 
Chamberlain, 469. 

Hayes, R. B., Gov. and President, nomi- 
nation of, 271 ; expectation in case he 
became President, 468 ; assurances 
given to Southern men by his personal 
friends before the decision of the con- 
tested Presidential election, 471 ; dis- 
claims having made any agreement, 
472 ; invites Gov. Chamberlain to 
Washington for conference, 472 ; de- 
termines with the consent of the 
Cabinet to withdraw the troops from 
the Statehouse at Columbia on A]:iril 
10, 1877, 479 ; his honorable motives 
and patriotic purposes conceded by 



Gov. Chamberlain, 482 ; his " South- 
ern policy" discussed by Gov. Cham- 
berlain, 507-520. 

Hayne, H. E., Secretary of State, 217 ; 
renominated, 360 ; counsels Gov. 
Chamberlain to discontinue the strug- 
gle, 482. 

Health. See Quarantine. 

Zr<?r«/if/ (newspaper), Boston, Mass., com- 
mends disarmament of colored militia, 
70 ; commends Gov. Chamberlain's 
Charleston speech, 160. 

//i?r«/(/ (newspaper), Newberrv, S. C, 

63- 

Herald (newspaper). New York, commu- 
nication to, by Gov. Chamberlain re- 
garding part of South Carolina in cen- 
tennial exhibition, 134 ; publishes let- 
ters of Gov. Chamberlain to President 
Grant and Senator Morton, 227, 229 ; 
report of invasion of House of Repre- 
sentatives by Democrats, 439. 

Hoge, S. L., M. C, with Gov. Chamber- 
lain in his canvass, 377-3S0. 

Plolmes, F. S. , appointed commissioner, 

134- 
Horry County, meeting in support of 
Gov. Chamberlain, 214. 



I 



Incorporation Act, general, recommend- 
ed, 16. 

Intelligencer (newspaper), Anderson, 
S. C, belittles Gov. Chamberlain's 
reform work, 109 ; not satisfied with 
his declarations, 152 ; favorable com- 
ment on his Charleston speech, 159 ; 
declares Gov. Chamberlain's action in 
Moses-Whipper case deceptive, 223. 

Insurance, repeal of law requiring depos- 
its recommended, 25, 50. 

J 

Jackson, A., 209. 

Jillson, J. K., Superintendent of Educa- 
tion, at Newberry and Abbeville with 
Gov. Chamberlain, 377-379. 

Jones, A. O., as clerk of House of Rep- 
resentatives, South Carolina, issues 
passes to the chamber, 437, 440, 442, 
443, 452 ; re-elected, 437. 

Jotvnal (newspaper), Camden, S. C, 
64 ; Gov. Chamberlain a necessity to 
welfare of the State, 151. 

Judges, recommendation concerning elec- 
tion of, 182. 

Justices of the Peace and Constables, 
election by the people a constitutional 



538 



INDEX. 



right, 23 ; reform in mode of selection 
urged on the Legislature, 60 ; no heed 
paid to these recommendations, 65 ; 
recommendation repeated, 180 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain's record on the subject, 
284, 2S5. 

K 

Keegan, J. F., account of Gov. Cham- 
berlain's eloquence, 261. 

Kennedy, James, nominated for Adju- 
tant General, 360 ; counsels Gov. 
Chamberlain to discontinue the strug- 
gle, 4S2. 

Kershaw, Gen. J. B., seconder of reso- 
lutions at Camden meeting, 214 ; 
orator at Fort Moultrie, compliments 
Gov. Chamberlain, 345. 

Kimpton, H. H., letter of Gov. Chamber- 
lain to {1S70), 143 ; circumstances of his 
appointment as Financial Agent of the 
State in New York, 492, 499 ; in- 
dicted for conspiracy to defraud, 502. 

Kingstrce, colored men retire from meet- 
ing held to support Gov. Chamberlain, 

215. 
Ku-Klux Klan, J. P. Reed not con- 
nected with it, 40 ; brutal deeds of, 
admitted by News and Courier, 310. 

I. 

Lancaster, interrujited Republican meet- 
ing at, 380. 

Land Commission, Advisory Board of, 
action of Gov. Chamberlain while a 
member of, ex-officio (1868-72), 495 ; 
indictment of its members, 502. 

Lebby, R., M.D., Health Officer, 179 ; 
reports of, see Quarantine. 

Ledger (newspaper), Philadelphia, com- 
mends Inaugural Address, 36. 

Legislature. See General Assembly. 

Leslie, C. P., conduct while Land Com- 
missioner under investigation, 250 ; in- 
dicted at Columbia (1878), 502. 

Lipscomb, J. N., makes abusive speech 
at Newberry, 377. 

Lloyd, Capt. T. J. (U. S. A.), report of 
service with detachment of troops in 
Aiken County, 416. 

Louisiana, President Hayes' Southern 
policy exemplified in, 508. 

Lunatic asylum, condition and finances 
of, 51, 175 ; reduction of expenses 
recommended, 246 ; 249. 

M 

Mackey, E. W. M., elected Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, 437. 



Mackey, Judge T. J., sent to investi- 
gate troubles in Edgefield County, 63 ; 
replies to Gen. Gary at Edgefield meet- 
ing, 376 ; joins the Democrats, and 
addresses a Democratic meeting, 438. 

Maher, J. J. (Judge Circuit Court), de- 
feated by Wiggins, 195 ; character as 
judge, 211 ; declines to be the Demo- 
cratic candidate for Governor, and says 
that Gov. Chamberlain should not be 
opposed, 332, 333. 

Magrath, A. G., applies to Gov. Cham- 
berlain for military protection of 
Democrats in Charleston County, 421. 

Manning, W. H., Gen. Hampton's pri- 
vate secretary, 485. 

Massachusetts, colony from, settles in 
South Carolina, 2 ; aid from for fair of 
Washington Light Infantry, 1 18. 

Matthews, Stanley, despatches a remark- 
able letter to Gov. Chamberlain (March 
4, 1877), 469 ; the Governor's reply, 
470 ; Mr. Matthews' association with 
Gov. Foster in an effort to reconcile 
Southern men to the seating of a Re- 
publican president, 472. 

Mechlenburg (N. C.) Declaration of In- 
dependence, Centennial of, 128. 

Medium (newspaper), Abbeville, S. C, 
commends Charleston speech of Gov. 
Chamberlain, 159, 160; comments on 
veto of supply bill, 190, 191. 

Melchers, A., president German Fusi- 
liers, 125. 

Midway, interrupted Republican meet- 
ing, 379- 

Miles, C. R., offers resolution at Char- 
leston meeting, 208. 

Militia, State, character of, 68 ; com- 
panies in Edgefield County disarmed, 
69 ; the Hamburg company attack, and 
some members murdered, 313-318. 

Mills, Capt. Wm. (U. S. A.), endorse- 
ment on report of Capt. Lloyd, 41S. 

Minority representation. See Represen- 
tation. 

Moise, C. II., remarks at Sumter meet- 
ing, 211. 

Moise, E. W'., offers resolution at Sumter 
meeting, 210. 

Monument on capitol grounds, repair of, 
182. 

Morton, O. P., candidate for nomination 
for President, 226 ; letter to, by Gov. 
Chamberlain, 229-234 ; claims to have 
been misunderstood, 234, 235 ; votes 
for in national convention, 272. 

Mosell, Parson, 209. 

Moses, F. J., Jr., Consolidation Act 



INDEX. 



539 



passed in Administration of, 7 ; de- 
feated candidate for Judge of Third 
Circuit, 42 ; elected judge by Legisla- 
ture December, 1875, 192 ; character 
of, 195, 228, 232 ; commission refused 
by Gov. Chamberlain, 197 ; reliance of, 
on his father, the Chief Justice, 198, 
206 ; popular protests, 201-217 ; de- 
termination to be seated, 215, 217 ; 
failure, 219 ; resigns, 372 ; corruption 
of his Administration, 282. 

Moses, F. J., Sen. (Chief Justice), ex- 
pected to aid his son, 198, 206 ; op- 
ponent of re-election of Gov. Cham- 
berlain, 429. 

Moultrie, Fort, centennial celebration of 
defence of, 342-345. 



N 



Nation (newspaper) commends Gov. 
Chamberlain's Inaugural Address, 36 ; 
assures Gov. Chamberlain of sympathy 
of honest people of the viiole Union, 
112 ; comments on despatch to New 
England Society, 236, 237 ; comments 
on Hamburg massacre, 320, 321 ; on 
nomination of Hampton, 337. 

N'ational Reptiblican (newspaper), Wash- 
ington, D. C, hostile to Gov. Chamber- 
lain in the Whipper-Moses matter, 232, 
236, 240. 

Neagle, John L., indictment of (1878), 
502. 

Newberry, Republican meeting at, in- 
terrupted, 377. 

New Englander (magazine) publishes 
Gov. Chamberlain's Greenville oration 
on classical studies, 136, 

New England Society, letters to, by Gov. 
Chamberlain, 116, 117. 

Ne-cos and Courier- (newspaper), Charles- 
ton, S. C, comments on Gov. Chamber- 
lain's Inaugural Address, 34, 35 ; on 
election of Judge Reed, 43 ; on the 
special message of January 12, 1875, 
62 ; on letter to chairman .Senate Com- 
mittee on Finance urging reduction of 
appropriations, 73 ; character, influ- 
ence, and course of, 77 ; pledges sup- 
port of Conservatives to Gov. Chamber- 
lain in prosecuting reform, 78, 79 ; 
])ublishes interview with Gov. Cham- 
berlain regarding charges against State 
Treasurer Cardozo, 81-84 i '"eview of 
the charges, with earnest approval of 
the Governor, 84, 85 ; acknowledges 
that its former judgment of the Gover- 
nor's character was wrong, and rebukes 



his persistent detractors, 106-108 ; an- 
nounces good news from Columbia, 
III ; report of Gen. Simon's speech at 
banquet of New England Society 117 ; 
Gov. Chamberlain "master of the art 
of how to do it," 127 ; comment on 
Gov. Chamberlain's oration at Yale 
College, 133 ; on his oration at Green- 
ville, 136 ; on his Charleston speech, 
159 ; on Second Annual Message and 
veto of supply bill, 190 ; on refusal to 
commission Whipper and Moses, ig8, 
199 ; " nobody asks Gov. Chamberlain 
to leave his party," 242 ; defines aims 
and policy of " Cooperationists," 274- 
278 ; the voting colored majority can 
be overcome " only by armed force," 
275 ; comprehensive review of Gov. 
Chamberlain's record, 279-306 ; com- 
mends proclamation regarding lynch- 
ing in Edgefield, brutal deeds of the 
Ku-Klux acknowledged, 309, 310 ; 
comments on Hamburg massacre and 
(lov. Chamberlain's letter to the Presi- 
dent, 326 ; final unavailing struggle 
against the " Straight-out " policy, 335 ; 
the result a plain departure from true 
reform policy, 338 ; surrenders its 
judgment to the party, 339 ; calls upon 
Gov. Chamberlain to withdraw from 
Republican ticket, 360 ; favors pro- 
scription of Republicans, 381 ; report 
of the transfer of the Executive office 
from Gov. Chamberlain to Gen. 
Hampton, 485. 

News (Newspaper), Greenville, S. C, 
35 ; remark on Gov. Chamberlain's 
visit to deliver an oration, 136 

N^eivs (newspaper), Savannah, Ga., the 
Mississippi plan commended to South 
Carolina, 241. 

Nezus (newspaper), Winsboro, S. C, com- 
mends Gov. Chamberlain, no; 151. 

Normal School, State, condition of, 56, 
173. 174, 246, 249. 

Nullification, episode of, in South Caro- 
lina, 4 



O 



Observer (newspaper), Charlotte, N. C, 
commends action in the Whipper- 
Moses case, 240. 

Officers, public, excess of, 20. 

Orangeburg, S. C, action of bar and 
citizens in Whipper-Moses case, 209. 

Orphan Asylum, State, 54 ; removal to 
Columbia, condition of, 179 ; inquiry 
into expenses of, advised, 246 ; 249. 



540 



INDEX. 



Packard, S. B., Governor of Louisiana, 
his lawful title and right to protection 
in his office, 508-519. 

Palmer, F. A., member of the Legisla- 
ture, receives votes for United States 
Senator, 455. 

Pardons, Gov. Chamberlain's purpose, 
26 ; number granted during first year, 
178 ; his care and firmness, 253 ; case 
of Joseph Corley, 253 ; Case of Denis 
R. Bunch, 254-256 ; case of Geo. Har- 
dee, 256 ; case of Joseph Gibbes, 257 ; 
Gov. Chamberlain's record, 286-288. 

Parker, Niles J., falsely reported to be 
shielded by Gov. Chamberlain, 107 ; 
prosecution of, 145 ; testimony af- 
fecting Gov. Chamberlain, 146 ; re- 
ported "confession" of, implicating 
Gov. Chamberlain, and the latter's 
comments thereon, 500 ; indicted at 
Columbia in 1878, 502. 

Parmele, Col. T. W., appointed Super- 
intendent of Penitentiary, iii; reforms 
effected by, 177. 

Patterson, J. J. (U. S. Senator), a de- 
tractor of Gov. Chamberlain, 107 ; 
leader of the unsuccessful movement 
to prevent Gov. Chamberlain from 
going as delegate to the national con- 
vention, 258; views published in N. Y. 
Tribune, 368 ; one of the signers of 
letter to President proposing methods 
of settling troubles in South Carolina, 
478. 

Pelham, Prof. C. P., letter of, regarding 
Gov. Chamberlain and his action, 

44, 45- 

Penitentiary, debt of, 52 ; utilization of 
labor of convicts recommended, 53 ; 
statistics, condition, and recommenda- 
tions, 177, 178 ; reduction of expenses 
of, recommended, 246. 

Pkcenix (newspaper) Columbia, S. C, 
comments on the Governor's character 
and policy, 151. 

Pio7ieer (newspaper), Florence, S. C, 
35. 

Platform, of Republicans and their op- 
ponents in 1874, 8, 9 ; adopted by 
white citizens of Charleston regarding 
election of Whipper and Moses, 203— 
205 ; of Republicans, 1876, 352-355 ; 
Gov. Chamberlain's views of its signifi- 
cance, 362 ; his part in preparing, 370. 

Population of South Carolina in 1790, 3 ; 
in 1850, 5 ; in 1875, 171. 

Porter, W. D., presents flag to Washing- 



ton Light Infantry for Gov. Chamber- 
lain, 132. 

Port Royal, first settlement of, i. 

Post, Pvening {newspaper), N. Y., com- 
ments on nomination of Hampton, 

337- 

Presbyterian (newspaper), Due West, 
S. C, comments on invitation to Gov. 
Chamberlain to deliver address at 
Erskine College, 128. 

Pi'ess and Banner (newspaper), 63. 

Pressley, B. C, speech at Charleston 
in support of Gov. Chamberlain. 

Price, Thomas W., Company, debt to 
the, 49. 

Printing, public, extravagance of, 17, 
18 ; better system recommended, 18 ; 
reduction effected, 166 ; improved sys- 
tem urged, 166 ; further retrenchment 
insisted upon, 249 ; saving effected by 
Gov. Chamberlain's efforts, 300, 301. 

Prison Association, National, work of 
the, commended, 53. 

Proclamation, respecting disorder in 
Edgefield County, 68, 69 ; of day of 
thanksgiving, 160 ; of warning regard- 
ing attempt of Whipper to seize a 
judicial office, 218, 219 ; regarding 
shooting of Sheriff's prisoners in Edge- 
field County, 307, 308 ; calling upon 
the rifle clubs to disband, 389, 390 ; 
regarding the conduct of the election, 
426 ; of President Grant, commanding 
rifle clubs to disperse, 406. 

Proscription, Democratic policy of, 381, 
382. 



Q 



Quarantine at Charleston, 54 ; 179 ; re- 
duction of salaries advised, 248. 



R 



Ramsay, D. (historian), description of 
early settlers of South Carolina, I, 2 ;, 
treatment of South Carolina by the 
Georges, 3. 

Randolph, T. F. (U. S. Senator), mis- 
statements regarding affairs in South 
Carolina corrected by Gov. Chamber- 
lain, 422. 

Rebellion, war of the, part of South Caro- 
lina in the, 5. 

Reconstruction of government after re- 
bellion, two plans tried in South Caro- 
lina, 5 ; protests against the congres- 
sional plan, 5. 

Record of Gov. Chamberlain's adminis- 



INDEX. 



541 



tration as presented by the Ncrvs and 
Courier, August, 1876, 279. 

Redfield, H. V. predicts political revolu- 
tion, 220, 221 ; character and purpose . 
of the rifle clubs, 350 ; estimate of 
Gov. Chamberlain's character and 
motives, 466. 

Redpath, James, report of conversation 
with Gov. Chamberlain on the situa- 
tion in South Carolina, 457-465, 

Reed, Jacob P., candidate for Judge of 
Charleston Circuit, 39 ; supported by 
the Governor, 40 ; is elected over W. 
J. Whipper, 41 ; is defeated by Whip- 
per, 192 ; Gov. Chamberlain holds that 
his term is for four years, 197 ; re- 
quested by the bar of Charleston and 
Orangeburg to maintain his right, his 
response, 215, 2i6 ; is newly commis- 
sioned, 217 ; letter of Gov. Chamber- 
lain to, 257. 

Registration of voters in 1867, 5 ; failure 
of Legislature to provide for, 25 ; Gov- 
ernor Chamberlain urges obedience to 
the constitutional requirement, 6r ; re- 
news the recommendation, 180 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain's record, 285, 286. 

Reporter (newspaper), Chester, S. C, 

63. 
Reports, of State officers for 1S74 delayed, 
28, 47 ; measures for securing prompt- 
ness urged, 47 ; State Treasurer's, 47, 

170 ; Comptroller General's, 48, 170 ; 
Superintendent of Lunatic Asylum, 51, 
175 ; Superintendent of State Peniten- 
tiary, 52, 177; Trustees of Orphan Asy- 
lum, 54, 179; Health Officerat Charles- 
ton, 54, 179 ; Secretary of State, 54, 

171 ; Adjutant and Inspector General, 
54 ; State Librarian, 54, 175 ; State 
Superintendent of Education, 55, 172 ; 
Attorney General's, 56, 171 ; State re- 
ports for 1875 promptly made, 170 ; 
reports, legislative and. congressional, 
on the election of 1876, 457. 

Representation, minority, advocated, 59 ; 
recommended for all county and mu- 
nicipal elections, 180,' iSi ; Gov. 
Chamberlain's record on, 283, 284. 

Republican (newspaper), Springfield, 
Mass., commends Gov. Chamberlain, 
112 ; on Gov. Chamberlain's Charles- 
ton speech, 160 ; on the Whipper- 
Moses case, 239. 

Republican party, nominates D. H. 
Chamberlain for Governor on a reform 
platform, 8 ; effect upon, of Gov. 
Chamberlain's Inaugural Address, 32, 
33 ; members of, in Legislature hostile 



to Gov. Chamberlain's policy, 38 ; dis- 
astrous effect on, of election of Whip- 
per and Moses judges, 195, 196 ; re- 
form by, despaired of, 204 ; further 
discussion of the effect of its debase- 
ment in South Carolina, 220, 221 ; how 
it affected the national party, 225-227 ; 
Gov. Chamberlain's views of party 
duty, letter to the President, 228, 229 ; 
to Senator Morton, 229-234 ; but 
one way to save, 233, 234 ; pledges 
should be kept, 247 ; State Convention, 
April, 1876, 258-270 ; can be over- 
come "only by armed force," 275 ; 
character of, in South Carolina por- 
trayed by News and Courier, 276, 277 , 
remarks on, by Gov. Chamberlain; 
346-348; State Convention called, 349; 
Convention meets Sept. 13th, 352, 360 ; 
policy of proscription against republi- 
cans, 381, 382 ; not capable of resist- 
ing the rifle clubs, 387 ; Democratic 
methods of intimidation of, 39S-401 ; 
address to, of Gov. Chamberlain on 
quitting office, 480. 

Residence, Governor's former official, 
care of by Gov. Chamberlain, 181. 

Revolution, war of, part of South Caro- 
lina in, 3. 

Richardson, J. S., 211. 

Rifle clubs, interference of, with Gov. 
Chamberlain's meetings, 349 ; charac- 
ter and purpose of, 350 ; unlawful 
character of, 383 ; commanded by 
proclamation to disband, 389 ; report 
of D. T. Corbin on numbers of, and 
murders by, in Aiken County, 391 ; 
how recruited, 400 ; commanded to 
disperse and submit to the laws by 
proclamation of President Grant, 406 ; 
numbers enrolled in the State, 410 ; 
crimes of, 410 ; participation in the 
EUenton assassinations, 411 ; massacre 
by, prevented by U. S. troops, 414-416; 
resort to Columbia after the election, 
429 ; intimidation effected, number of 
murders by, 461 ; over one hundred 
Republicans killed, 480. 

Rivers, Prince, Trial Justice at Ham- 
burg, 313 ; efforts to prevent the fatal 
affray, 314, 315 ; holds inquest, 317; 
issues warrants for arrest of the ac- 
cused, 328. 

Robertson, J. D., Text-book Commis- 
sioner, alleged improper conduct of, 

251. 
Robertson, T. J. (U. S. Senator), says 
President Grant is gratified by Gov. 
Chamberlain's course, 150; Gov. 



542 



INDEX. 



Chamberlain's letter to, on Hamburg 
massacre, 318-320 ; his successor 
elected, 455. 

Rogers, W. K., writes letter to Gov. 
Chamberlain by direction of the Presi- 
dent, 472. 

Ruger, Gen. T. H. (U. S. A.), com- 
manding in South Carolina, 407 ; en- 
dorsement on Captain Lloyd's report 
of the affair at Rouse's Bridge, 418 ; 
instructed by the President before 
meeting of the Legislature, to sustain 
authority of Gov. Chamberlain, 435 ; 
instructions of Secretary of War, 435 ; 
sends a small force to the Statehouse, 
436 ; notifies intruding Democrats that 
they cannot be allowed on the floor of 
the House, 440; letter to, by Gen. Gor- 
don and others, 440 ; report of his ac- 
tion to Gen. Sherman, 441. 

Rutlege, B. H., remarks at Charleston 
meeting, 201. 

S 

Schools and school system. See Educa- 
tion. 

Schurz, Carl, extract from speech of, 425. 

Scott, Gov. R. K., increase of debt dur- 
ing Administration of, 7. 

Sentinel (newspaper) Barnwell, S. C, 
commends Gov. Chamberlain, ill, 159. 

Settle, Thomas, statements of conversa- 
tion had with Gen. Hampton, 450. 

Shannon, W. M., offers resolutions sup- 
porting Gov. Chamberlain, 214. 

Shaw, J. A., elected Judge Third Circuit, 
42 ; F. J. Moses, Jr., chosen his suc- 
cessor, 192, 193 ; Gov. Chamberlain 
holds that his term is for four years, 
197 ; commissioned for the long term, 
217. 

Sherman, Gen. W. T., instructions to, by 
Secretary of War, 407 ; report to, of 
Gen. Ruger, 441. 

Siegling, K. , speaker at Charleston meet- 
ing to support Gov. Chamberlain, 207. 

Simons, Gen. James, speech at New 
England Society banquet approving 
Gov. Chamberlain's course, I17, I18. 

Simonton, ('. H., offers resolution at 
Charleston meeting, 209. 

Sinking Fund, Commissioners of the, ac- 
tion of Gov. Chamberlain while a mem- 
ber of the Board ex officio (1868-1872), 

494- 
Slavery, character and effect of, 3 ; in- 
fluence of, in South Carolina, 4 ; bar- 
barism of, reappears in Hamburg Mas- 
sacre, 312. 



Small, Jacob, appointed commissioner, 
134- 

Smalley, E. V., reputed author of letter 
in N. Y. Tribune containing scandal- 
ous charges, 497. 

Smythe, J. A., speaker at Charleston 
meeting to support Gov. Chamberlain, 
207. 

Solomon, Hardy, owner of South Caro- 
lina Bank and Trust Company, 88 ; 
designated in vetoed "bonanza" bill 
as a commissioner to pass on validity 
of claims, 98 ; failure of his bank, 145, 
148. 

South Carolina, historical sketch, i-g ; 
early settlers, i, 2; in revolutionay war, 
3 ; population in 1790, 3 ; influence of 
slavery in, 3 ; nullification episode, 4 ; 
population in 1S50, 5 ; part in rebel- 
lion, 5 ; plans for reconstruction of 
government in, 5; formation and adop- 
tion of new constitution, 6 ; protests 
of Democratic party, 6, 7 ; new gov- 
ernment inaugurated, 7 ; increase of 
public debt, 1868-72, 7 ; Act reducing 
and consolidating public debt (1873), 
7 ; demand for reform in administra- 
tion, 8 ; candidates and platform in 
1874, 8, 9 ; D. H. Chamberlain elected 
Governor, 9 ; constitution of Legisla- 
tures, 7, 9 ; weakness of Republican 
journals in, 77 ; political quiet in sum- 
mer of 1875, 140 ; population and in- 
dustrial statistics, (1875), 171 ; condi- 
tion of, prior to Gov. Chamberlain's 
Administration, 281 ; Hamburg massa- 
cre the turning point in political affairs 
of, 312 ; what of good the Republican 
Administrations conferred on the State, 
464 ; Gov. Chamberlain on future pros- 
pects of, 506. 

Southerner (newspaper), Darlington, S. 
C, commends Gov. Chamberlain, 
no. 

Spartan (newspaper), South Carolina, 
commends Gov. Chamberlain, no. 

Spartanburg, meeting regarding Whip- 
per-Moses case, 214. 

6/Vi' (newspaper), Worcester, Mass., com- 
ment on Gov. Chamberlain's attitude 
toward the supply bills, 251, 252. 

^/ar (newspaper), Kingstree, S. C, com- 
mends Gov. Chamberlain for fidelity to 
his pledges, 108. 

Star (newspaper), Washington, D. C, 
asserts that N. J. Parker will be 
shielded by Gov. Chamberlain, 107 ; 
commends policy of Gov. Chamber- 
lain, 160. 



INDEX. 



543 



Stephens, A. H., denies having dispar- 
aged Gov. Chamberlain, 242, 243. 

Stetson, T. M., introduces Gov. Cham- 
berlain at Lexington, Mass., 119. 

Stone, William (Attorney General), re- 
port on Hamburg massacre, 313-31S ; 
report to Governor of reasons for post- 
poning legal proceedings against al- 
leged participants in the massacre, 

329, 330. 

" Straight-outs." See Democratic party. 

Strikes, in Colleton County, 340 ; on 
Combahee rice plantations, 341. 

Sumter, S. C, meeting to protest against 
election of Whipper and Moses, 210. 

Sun (newspaper), Columbia, S. C, Gov. 
Chamberlain's reply to Carpenter, 262. 

Sun (newspaper). New York, notified by 
News and Cotirier that its correspond- 
ents are slandering the Governor, 107, 
108 ; persistence in defamation, 141 ; 
its charges denied and its course re- 
buked by the Netus and Courier, 142- 
144. 

Swails, S. A., leads colored men out of 
meeting held to sustain Gov. Chamber- 
lain, 215 ; elected President /w iem. of 
State Senate, 438. 



Taxation, system explained and reforms 
urged, 11-13 ; total taxable property, 
49 ; proposed burden of (1S75), with- 
out precedent or justification, 96 ; the 
laws regulating fair, 163 ; Gov. Cham- 
berlain's reform record, 296. 

Taxes, extending time for collection of, 
51 ; tax and supply bill for 1875 ve- 
toed, 102 ; county taxes burdensome, 
169 ; veto of annual tax and supply 
bill, specific reductions recommended, 
184-190 ; Gov. Chamberlain's record 
on the subject, 303. 

Taxpayers' Convention of 1S71, Gov. 
Chamberlain favors minority represen- 
tation as a measure of relief, 284. 

Taylor, Thomas, appointed commis- 
sioner, 134. 

Telegi-aph (newspaper), Macon, Ga., 
commends the Mississippi plan to 
South Carolina, 241. 

Thompson, J. G., editor of Union- 
Herald, 77 ; accompanies Gov. Cham- 
berlain, 485. 

Thompson, S. B., M.D., 179. 

Tilden, S. J., disagreement with Hen- 
dricks on financial question, 371 ; ex- 
pectation that he would become Presi- 



dent prevents the dissolution of the 
Hampton government, so called, 468. 

Tillman, G. D., abusive speech at Mid- 
way, 379. 

Times (newspaper), New York, com- 
mends Gov. Chamberlain's course, 
238 ; letter describing the April con- 
vention in Columbia, 260, 261 ; com- 
ment on renomination of Gov. Cham- 
berlain, 363, 364 ; an incident of the 
long contest in Columbia, 466. 

Tolbert, J. B., nominated for Superin- 
tendent of Education, 360 ; counsels 
Gov. Chamberlain to discontinue the 
struggle, 482. 

Tomlinson, R., appointed commissioner, 

134- 

Trenholm, W. L., appointed commis- 
sioner, 134. 

Trial Justices, the system of, costly, in- 
efficient, and oppressive, 23 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain's intention in making 
appointments of, 24 ; letter to Senate 
(in executive session) explaining mo- 
tives in appointments of, 66 ; great ig- 
norance of these officers, 140 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain's record in appointments, 
2S8, 289. 

Tribune (newspaper), Chicago, 111., 
commends Gov. Chamberlain, 1 12, 
113 ; his course regarding Whipper 
and Moses, 238, 239 ; report of talk 
with Gov. Chamberlain on the situa- 
tion in December, 1S76, by James 
Redpath, 458-465. 

Trilume (newspaper), New York, ap- 
proves disarmament of colored militia 
in Edgefield County, 69 ; Republican 
party must disown the corrupt element 
in South Carolina, 238 ; letters by a 
South Carolinian describing the politi- 
cal situation in the fall of 1876, 398 ; 
extracts, 39S-401 ; letter of Gov. 
Chamberlain on the need of calling 
on the President for aid, 407-416 ; let- 
ter of Gov. Chamberlain on misstate- 
ments of Senator Randolph, 422-425 ; 
letters to, by Gov. Chamberlain review- 
ing General Gordon's despatches from 
Columbia, 442-444 ; JI51-454. 

Trumbo, A. S., 117. 

Tupper, S. Y. , address introducing Gov, 
Chamberlain to Charleston Chamber 
of Commerce, 157. 



U 



Union-Herald (newspaper), organ of Re- 
publican party in South Carolina, ser- 



544 



INDEX. 



'.ail- 



vice of, 77 ; exposes the animus and 
purpose of the movement against State 
Treasurer Cardozo, 86, 87 ; reply to 
Anderson Inielligenccr on the insinua- 
tions against Gov. Chamberlain's in- 
tegrity, 109 ; prints letter of A. H. 
Stephens, 242, 243 ; statement of D. 
II. Chamberlain (Aug. 19, 1S74) re- 
garding charges affecting the integrity 
of his action while Attorney General, 
491. 
University, State, 175 ; should give jjlace 
to a useful high school, 249. 



Veto power, effectual exercise of, 290, 
291. 



W 



Walker, Amasa, letter by, describing 
situation in South Carolina, 114. 

Wallace, A. S., Member of Congress, 
prevented from speaking at Lancas- 
ter, 380. 
VVatcIunan (newspaper), Sumter, S. C, 
on disarmament of colored militia in 
Edgefield County, 70. 

Warrants in excess of appropriations, 

Washington Light Infantry (of Charles- 
ton), fair of, aided from Massachusetts, 
118 ; sends delegation to Centennial of 
Battle of Bunker Hill, 131 ; presented 
with State flag by Gov. Chamberlain, 
132. 

Whipper, W. J., Republican candidate 
for Judge of Charleston Circuit, 38 ; 
opposed in legislative caucus by Gov. 
Chamberlain, 39 ; defeated in the 
Legislature, 41 ; elected judge by the 
Legislature, Dec, 1875, 192 ; his char- 
acter, 195 ; 215 ; 22S ; 232 ; Gov. 
Chamberlain i^efuses to sign his com- 
mission, 197 ; his election defended, 
215 ; threatens to take the office never- 



theless, 215 ; 217 ; warned by execu- 
tive proclamation to desist, 218, 219 ; 
his scurrilous speech against Gov. 
Chamberlain expunged from House 
Journal, 251 ; appeals to the courts, 
372. 

White, J. H., speech in defence of 
Whipper, 215. 

White man's party. .See Democratic 
party. 

Whitsitt, W. H., offers prizes for excel- 
lence in Greek, 136, 137. 

Whittemore, B. F., opposes renomina- 
tion of Gov. Chamberlain, 355. 

Wiggins, P. L., elected judge, 195 ; char- 
acter of, 211 ; requested by resolutions 
of Barnwell meeting to decline judge- 
ship, 214 ; as judge advises postpone- 
ment of proceedings against those ac- 
cused of the Hamburg massacre, 329. 

Willard, A. J., Justice of Supreme Court, 

429- 
Williams, G. W., president of the Char- 
leston meeting to sustain Gov. Cham- 
berlain, his speech, 202 ; declines to be 
the Democratic candidate, and says 
Gov. Chamberlain can do better for 
South Carolina than any other man, 

333, 334- 
Wilson, B. H., offers resolutions, 209. 
Woman's Jotirnal (newspaper), Boston, 

publishes letter of Gov. Chamberlain, 

235. 

World (newspaper). New York, recom- 
mends the Mississippi plan to South 
Carolina, 241. 

Worthington, Gen. (Collector), opposed 
to Gov. Chamberlain in April con- 
vention, 259. 

Wright, J. J., Justice of Supreme Court, 
429. 

Y 

Yale College, Gov. Chamberlain delivers 
oration before Law School of, 133. 

York County, meeting held to support 
Gov, Chamberlain, 215. 



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